


Situations

by Hester_Of_Ravenswood, TheLonelyDraconequus



Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, No Smut, No enabler, Surprise Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 67
Words: 86,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hester_Of_Ravenswood/pseuds/Hester_Of_Ravenswood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyDraconequus/pseuds/TheLonelyDraconequus
Summary: Some snapshots of time as it passes!Side note: As always, no enabler and no smut!Side SIDE note: Love you guys reading, you're great, this is for you!
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Coco Adel/Velvet Scarlatina, Fox Alistair/Yatsuhashi Daichi, Ilia Amitola/Pyrrha Nikos/Sun Wukong, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Neopolitan/Ciel Soleil, Oscar Pine/Whitley Schnee, Penny Polendina/Winter Schnee, Qrow Branwen/Elm Ederne
Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661938
Comments: 228
Kudos: 55





	1. Pickup

**Author's Note:**

> Someone said we should do a discord (and by someone I of course mean Frosted_Milk) so I did!
> 
> Here's the link guys!! Everyone is welcome!
> 
> https://discord.gg/NNp6E3G

In this, the SEVEN are eight.

Lavey had spent the last few years waiting for this moment.

Her arms were crossed against her chest, a smug smirk on her face, and one of her hips was jutted out was she waited for her aunt to tell her the safety word.

Ilia flushed.

"Just get in the van!" she hissed, gesturing back at the van where all of Lavey's siblings sat.

"You're a stranger-"

"You've known me for your entire life!" Ilia hissed. "You know my children! I was there when you were born! I held you! You were so tiny!"

"You're a _stranger_ , you want me to get in a van, and you don't know my family's safety word. This is _literally_ everything that I've been told as a child that I need to avoid."

Ilia groaned and glanced back at Lavey's siblings as if hoping they would help her.

Adolpha had a frustrated expression, which was shared by both Akio and Jin. Meanwhile, Aella had burst out laughing, leaning against Auburn, who was chuckling. Crystal had a suffering expression, but she was also watching Lavey with the barest hint of a smirk on her face. She was clearly excited to see what was going to happen with her sister and aunt.

"I know what the safety word is, but I'm not going to say it!" Ilia said quickly, her face turning a light shade of red before the majority of her scales did the same.

(Auburn let out an "ooh!" sound and leaned forward, examining Ilia's scales with an awed look on his face and a grin).

"If you're not going to say it, then I'm just going to have to call the teachers over and tell them that you're kidnapping my siblings."

"I'm not saying it, Lavey, now get in the van!" Ilia hissed.

"This lady just told me to get in her van!" Lavey called.

Ilia winced and looked around worriedly.

"T-that's not what I meant! Her parents asked me to come pick her up!"

Nobody was listening, but Lavey continued.

"She says she knows my parents, but I've never seen her! She said she has candy!"

"I did _not_ offer you candy!" Ilia hissed.

"Yeah, and you also didn't offer me the safety word!" Lavey snapped, a playful glint to her eyes.

"How is that your safety word?! Who allowed that?!" Ilia whispered.

"MOMMA YANG, AND YOU WOULD KNOW THAT IF YOU KNEW MY MOTHERS!" Lavey cried.

The teachers were looking at her now, and Ilia winced.

"Lavey, just get in the car!" she snapped.

"No! You can't make me!"

"Get in the car, you little asshole!" Ilia cried.

There was a stunned silence in the area, teachers watching with wide eyes as students frowned in confusion. Lavey **beamed**.

"Aunt Ilia? Is that you? Oh my dust, I thought that you were trying to kidnap me, but since you know our safe word, you must not be!" Lavey happily skipped over to the car and landed beside Adolpha, leaning against her side. "Can we stop for food on the way back."

Ilia's entire body turned a dark shade of red as she saw everyone staring at her.

She cursed internally and slammed the door shut before racing away.

If you asked Ilia, "you little asshole" was not a good safety word.

Lavey, however, seemed to LOVE it.


	2. Game Night!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is following the main story line I've had for the SEVEN with the favors and the suspicious stuff that Crystal and Lavey have been doing. Also, this is around the time that Lavey was talking about the DVD of the documentary that she secretly has. They're like 14-15.

"I hate this game," Crystal muttered, arms crossed against her chest in frustration.

"That's just because you played a curse word once and then got grounded," Lavey said with a smirk.

Crystal flushed.

"No! That's not why! And besides, if they don't want you to play curse words, they shouldn't let you spell them."

"That makes no sense," Jin said with a raised eyebrow.

Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just please don't make me play Scrabble."

"Because you're illiterate?" Aella asked with a smirk.

Crystal smacked her arm.

"Asshole!" she hissed.

" **That's** why she can't play it," Akio said with a snicker.

"Oooh! We should play _this_!" Lavey said with excitement.

"No!" Adolpha snapped, eyes going wide. "We are _not_ playing that. You don't play fair!"

"You can't cheat in this!" Lavey snapped.

"I didn't say you cheated, I said you don't play fair," Adolpha said, arms crossed against her chest with a glare on her face.

"That doesn't make sense!" Lavey snapped.

"You don't use strategy! You just move the pieces around randomly!" Adolpha cried.

"No, that's what Aella does. I have a strategy," Lavey defended.

"Not an acceptable strategy!" Adolpha all but whined.

"Really? Well, that's too bad, considering it _always beats you_! That's why you and Akio don't like to play against me! Because you _lose_!"

Adolpha flushed and glared.

"You don't play it right!"

"There's no _wrong_ way to play chess!" Lavey cried.

"You do!"

"You're just mad that I'm too unpredictable for you to beat."

"Yes! That's why I'm mad!" Adolpha growled.

Lavey grinned and waved the chess board back and forth with a smug look.

"Come on, just one game."

"No!"

Lavey rolled her eyes.

"Fine! Then let's play cards."

"No way!" Jin said quickly. "I hate playing cards with you guys."

"Why?" Auburn asked.

"Because you guys always want to play BS and I can't lie!" Jin snapped.

"What does that have to do with it?" Adolpha asked with the barest hint of a smirk on her lips.

"The game is _about lying_ , Adolpha!"

"Then pretend to be a good liar!" Lavey cried. "It's really not that hard!"

"You know what? I agree with Jin. We can't play this game with you guys. Lavey doesn't even have a tell when she lies," Crystal said.

"Yes I do!" Lavey snapped. "You just haven't figured it out yet because you're all really bad at this."

"Can't we just play go fish?" Auburn asked with a suffering look on his face. He hated it when his siblings fought.

"There's too many of us to play that, and you always win!" Akio snapped.

"That's just racist," Auburn said with a scoff.

"No it's not!" Crystal snapped, tail twitching irritably behind her. "Let's just play poker."

"No way am I playing poker with you!" Jin cried. "You and Lavey always win! I think you count cards."

"Please! If anyone was capable of counting cards, it would be Akio," Lavey said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We're just good. Let's play poker."

Lavey barely stopped herself from smirking at Crystal.

Crystal's tail twitched a bit, and she fought a grin.

There was some bickering, but soon the seven had sat down to play the game.

Suffice it to say, Lavey and Crystal were winning and gaining quite a few favors from their siblings.

"What's with you two lately?" an annoyed Aella asked, arms crossed against her chest as she frowned.

"What're you talking about?" Lavey asked with a smirk as she put a few favors in her wallet.

"There's something going on with you two and favors," Aella insisted.

"You mean we're trying to collect them?" Lavey questioned. "Wow, what a surprise, it's almost like that's something that we're supposed to do and all of us do. It's just that we're better at it than you are."

"No, no, something's going on," Jin said with a frown on her face. "They keep asking for their _own_ favors."

"What? I know Cy's been getting my favors, so I've been stock piling hers, ya know?" Lavey said with a shrug.

"They're planning something," Aella said skeptically.

"I'm always planning something, Aella, be more specific," Lavey replied with a scoff and an eye roll.

"You're planning something with your favors," Aella continued, eyes narrowed.

Lavey revealed her cards, winning the hand and gaining two Crystals and one of her own favors.

Lavey suddenly smirked, looking up slowly and starting to snicker. After a moment, Crystal joined her, and the two were practically cackling like witches.

"Planning something?" Lavey asked with a smirk. "Oh, my deal Aella, we're not planning something," her eyes twinkled with mischief, "because we've already done it."

Crystal stood, dropping her cards, and started to walk out of the room.

Lavey followed her.

"Well, tonight was fun and all," Lavey said with a grin, "but it seems that we've gotten everything we came for. Good game, but it's already over."

"What did you do?" Adolpha asked skeptically.

"We started a new game," Lavey said, "didn't we, Cy."

"Oh yes, we did," Crystal said, grinning smugly. "And I quite like this one. Care to tell them what it's called?"

"It's called 'we're the only ones that have our favors,'" Lavey said.

"That name sounds clunky," Crystal said.

"Yeah, but it gets right to the point, doesn't it?" Lavey replied, leaning against Crystal's side with a smirk on her face.

"What do you mean you're the only ones with your favors?" Adolpha asked immediately, eyes going wide.

Crystal held her hand out, and Lavey passed the three final favors over to her. Crystal ripped them apart.

"Now I mean that there are _none_ of our favors that are currently in circulation," Lavey continued, shrugging, "which means that my shop is closed. Why do I need to have a shop for trading when my favors are gone? I've got enough stockpiled-" there was a cough, and Lavey snickered. "-I'm sorry, _we've_ got enough stockpiled, especially Adolpha favors, that we don't need to use any of our own to get any. We're out."

With that, Crystal held out her hand, which was grabbed by Lavey. Lavey darted off, opening the vent, and pulling her sister inside.

The pair left the rest of their siblings staring in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editor's note:  
> Dun dun DUNN!


	3. The Car

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"LAVEY!" Yang snapped.

"Momma Weiss and Ruby aren't here, we don't have to pretend that Crystal doesn't sound like a sailor when she stubs her toe."

Yang snickered and rolled her eyes.

"How are you not biologically my daughter?" Yang asked, glancing at Lavey.

Lavey shrugged as she moved her car seat to allow herself to be closer to the pedals.

Crystal snickered, and Lavey suddenly got an idea. She grabbed the seat adjuster for the front seat of the van and held it tight before she slammed her body weight backwards.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Crystal cried, wincing and reaching over to grab her knees.

Lavey snickered.

"Guess being short is good for something, huh? Looks like I have some kneecaps to steal when we get back."

"Stop threatening to steal kneecaps, you know it upsets Auburn," Adolpha said with an eye roll.

Lavey laughed.

"That's the point, Dolph! Now let's get this started, cause I wanna try out your motorcycle next."

"You can't drive my motorcycle," Yang said with a monotone voice. It was clear that she didn't agree with those words, but her wives, and perhaps even her sister, had told her that she couldn't let them drive the motorcycle.

And they had probably mentioned Lavey by name when they had said that.

Lavey groaned and shook her head.

"Would they _know_ if you let me drive the motorcycle?" she asked.

Yang's eyes darted back to look at Lavey's siblings.

Lavey understood immediately and smirked to herself. She let out a quiet laugh and started to put the car in drive.

Her mother would probably find her when she was alone and take her out to the store to buy something... and let her try out driving the motorcycle.

"Hey!" Auburn cried as soon as Lavey let the car move. "Why are you going so fast?!"

"I literally haven't touched the gas pedal, you wuss," Lavey said with an eye roll and a small snicker.

"Well you're going too fast," he mumbled.

"What, you gonna get car sick?" Lavey asked with a snort, shaking her head and moving her foot toward the gas pedal. Yang watched her nervously. Lavey was far too much like her mother Yang to be completely trusted behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle, that's for sure.

"No!" Auburn snapped, flushing in embarrassment.

"Sure you aren't, sweetie," Lavey said, putting her foot on the gas pedal and inching the car through the parking lot. She was the third sibling to have driven, as Yang had drawn their names randomly to see who would get to go in which order. They'd done that for a few years now, as the order of birth was unfair, and there was no way that Lavey would let them go in order of height.

When that second one had been suggested, Lavey had threatened to take Jin's legs away from her with her weapon, and Jin had been horrified at the visual. They had never discussed that option again, and Adolpha had glared at Lavey for the next few days. (Lavey had just smirked and winked back at Adolpha while running one hand down her weapon threateningly).

"If you slam on the breaks like Akio did, I swear that I'm going to kill you," Crystal said with an eye roll, rubbing at her knees, which were still sore from the stunt that Lavey had pulled a few minutes ago with the seat.

Lavey went to slam on the breaks, but Yang swatted her arm.

"Focus on driving!" Yang snapped, and Lavey let out a huff and a roll of her eyes, leaning back against her seat and focusing on the road in front of her.

"That's kinda hard when all of my siblings are trying to distract me and being big jerks."

"Who over the age of ten says the word 'jerk?'" Crystal asked, snorting.

"People who don't curse every other word that they say," Adolpha said with an eye roll.

Crystal reached her hand back into the row behind her to smack her sister.

"Hey! Stay seated or I swear I'll turn this car right around!" Lavey cried, smirking.

Crystal winced at the words, sitting back in her seat, and Adolpha winced at the noise, her ears twitching in frustration.

Lavey didn't seem to care as she slowly turned the car in the parking lot, glancing at Yang with a small proud look.

"Don't get smug, kid, you should focus on the road before you hit something," Yang said, but there was a small smile on her lips as well as she watched her daughter.

Lavey rolled her eyes.

"Please, I just started, but it's clear that I'm amazing at this too."

Crystal kicked her seat.

"You little bi-"

"Focus on the road, Lavey, I'll take care of this," Yang said, turning around in her seat.

Crystal smirked as if she had gotten away with it, but Yang turned her gaze to one of her other daughters.

"Aella, dear?" Yang called.

"Yeah?" Aella cried from the back row, picking her head up and leaning over the seat. Akio growled and swatted at her as her coat messed with his hair.

"Can you make sure that Crystal doesn't upset the driver again?" Yang asked sweetly.

Crystal's eyes widened in fear and she started to cry out, but Aella reached her hands out, flopping across the seats and wiggling out of her seat belt, and grabbed Crystal around the mouth to stop her from screaming and interrupting Lavey.

Adolpha grunted as her sister fell across her lap.

"Aella, can you hurry up?" the wolf Faunus asked, rolling her eyes at the sugar glider Faunus.

Crystal cried out, her voice muffled by the hand over her mouth, and looked to Adolpha for help, but the canine Faunus just shrugged and turned back to her conversation with Akio about aerodynamics.

Aella then flopped over Adolpha.

"A little help, Jinny Poo?" Aella asked.

Jin rolled her eyes and nodded, reaching forward and then grabbing her sister around the waist, lifting her higher.

"Thanks!"

Aella then grasped Crystal tighter and flopped back into the backseat, pulling the snow leopard Faunus behind her.

Crystal let out a grunt and a cry of shock, though both were muffled by the hand over her mouth.

Both Crystal and Aella fell into the back seat, and Aella let her gliders appear.

Crystal cried out for help, but Aella just laughed and wrapped both of her arms and legs around her sister, both her cloak and her gliders wrapping around her as well.

Crystal could finally speak, but she squirmed in Aella's grasp. She knew she wouldn't be able to get out, though. Aella had, somehow, been able to weaponize hugs, and nobody was shocked by this... although it could be annoying.

Yang and Lavey both laughed from the front seat, the latter watching the rear view mirror to see what had happened to her sisters.

"Mom, why did you do this to me?" Crystal called, grumbling to herself as she wiggled in Aella's grasp. The sugar glider Faunus didn't let go, nor did her grip slacken.

"You were being a jerk."

"So was Lavey!"

"Yeah, but she's driving, so she gets to be a jerk."

"You'll understand when you're old enough to drive," Lavey said.

"I'm literally older than you," Crystal grumbled.

"Then act like it," Lavey said with a snicker. "And for the record, you're, like, thirty seconds older than me, so shut up."

Lavey took a turn a little too fast, and they were all thrown to the side.

Lavey let out a laugh of exhileration at the movement while Jin cried out in shock. Crystal wriggled in Aella's grasp some, but her gliders, limbs, and cloak were too much to let her escape, so she just had to sit there with wide eyes as the car swerved.

Aella let out a cheer.

"Nice driving, Lav!" she cried.

"Thanks, Al!"

"Be careful!" Auburn squealed. He was grasping both his seat and the door beside him with wide eyes, his fists turning white from the force.

"Oh, you're fine!" Lavey cried dismissively, rolling her eyes.

"I'm almost dead!" Auburn snapped.

"Yeah, but not because of my driving," Lavey said with a shrug.

Lavey took the next turn slower though, and Yang let out a small sigh of relief, glancing back at her children.

Akio and Adolpha were still talking to one another about something nerdy, neither of them were able to be understood by the rest of their family. Jin and Auburn were both freaking out about Lavey's driving, steadying themselves with their hands and making sure that they didn't fall over if Lavey took another turn far too fast. Lavey was behind the wheel with a wide, almost meniacal grin on her face as she took another turn, though it was still just a tad bit slower than the one that had made her siblings shriek.

Meanwhile, Aella was still holding onto Crystal like she was a koala Faunus instead of a sugar glider, and Crystal was wiggling in her grasp and trying to free herself from her sister's arms.

Yang let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

When had her children become this damn weird?

Had they always been like this? Was it genetic?

Yang glanced at Lavey and the familiar smirk on her face.

Yeah, it had to be genetic, even if Lavey wasn't her biological daughter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place when they're nine!

"I swear if you make one more damn creak in that bed, Cy, I'm cutting your Achilles' tendon," Adolpha said.

"What?!" Crystal cried.

"I said _shut up_!" Adolpha growled, throwing her pillow over her ears and shoving her face into her bed.

"There's something _out there_ though!" Crystal hissed.

"Oh my Dust," Lavey groaned. "There's not a damn ghost in the hall, Cy!"

"What?" Jin asked, sitting up in her bed. "What was that about a ghost?"

"Crystal's insane, and she thinks that there's a ghost, so she won't let me get my beauty sleep," Lavey said.

"Yeah, you need that, Lav!" Aella cried with a snicker.

Lavey growled and groped to her bedside table until her hand found something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like a rubber ball.

Lavey tossed it through the air, and it struck Aella in her bed that hung from the ceiling.

Aella cried out in shock, almost falling out of her bed. Lavey had clearly used a bit of her Semblance to throw the ball so hard, and Aella was shocked to say the least.

Lavey snickered and Aella glared at her, though the effect was lost upon Lavey, considering she was fully human, and, therefore, didn't have very good night vision.

Lavey seemed to sense Aella's glare, though, and she held up a middle finger, making Crystal laugh, though the sound was not as loud or sure of itself as it would typically be.

"Cy, you know that there's not a ghost out there, right? Because thinking there was a ghost out there would be one of the stupidest things I've ever seen you do," Lavey said.

"Lav, be nice," Adolpha said immediately, sitting up and putting her pillow down so that she could be a bigger part of the current conversation.

"Can't."

"It wouldn't kill you to be nice," Jin added, rolling her eyes in the darkness.

"It actually might."

"Idiot, it wouldn't kill you," Aella called, tossing a pillow down at Lavey.

Lavey grunted and then shoved the pillow back off of her and onto the ground with an eye roll.

"Fine. Fine! Cy, get out of bed!" Lavey snapped, rolling out of her own.

Crystal hesitated, her grasp on her blanket tightening in worry as she glanced to the side.

Lavey was surprised to find that her sister was actually scared. She had thought this whole thing was some sort of joke, or perhaps caused because Crystal was awake so much later than she typically was.

Lavey let out a quiet sigh and reached her hand out in the darkness, only seeing the vague imprint of where Crystal was.

Despite not being able to see very well, her hand met Crystal's, and she tugged her sister to her feet.

"Alright, what's making you so nervous," Lavey said, pulling Crystal a bit closer to herself as she walked toward the door.

Crystal gently nudged her to the side, helping her avoid stepping on something that Aella had left laying on the floor earlier. As Lavey was the only non-Faunus that lived in that room, her siblings often forgot to account for that one difference.

"There's a ghost, Lav," Crystal hissed, though her voice didn't hold its typical malice. She sounded nervous.

"Okay, okay," Lavey said, tightening her grip on Crystal's hand, "then let's check it out together, okay?"

Crystal shook her head quickly.

"I don't want to check it out! What if they want to haunt us!" she hissed.

"Don't worry, I won't let them. You're my sister so only I get to be the creepy half person that haunts you."

"What if they haunt you too?" Crystal asked, tugging on Lavey as she started to walk out of the bedroom, tugging Crystal behind her.

"They won't."

"What makes you so sure?" Crystal sounded almost pleading, like she wanted to know the secret to life, to how Lavey wasn't shaking and terrified at the very idea of ghosts.

"First of all, I'm amazing and awesome, so nobody ever messes with me," Lavey said with a cocky grin. Crystal frowned and was about to pull away, but Lavey held her hand tighter. "And second of all... I'm not scared. They can't do anything to me if I'm not scared, 'cause that's all ghosts are. They're monsters that attack the scared. Least that's what mommy said."

"How are you not scared?"

Lavey glanced back at her sister.

"It's always easier to be brave when you have someone to be brave for. Now show me this ghost of yours, and I'll kick his ass."

"Momma said you shouldn't say that kind of stuff," Crystal said.

"Well, I can say whatever the heck I want to say, cause I'm about to kick some ghost ass. Now let's go!"

Lavey opened the door and let herself be directed down the hallway by her sister, who hid behind her back and whispered the directions into her ear while making quiet shrieking sounds occasionally as they passed different suspicious-looking objects.

"You have been night vision than I do, how are you possibly scared by this?" Lavey muttered.

"Because there's a ghost!" Crystal hissed.

Lavey barely held back an eye roll before she was tugged to a halt.

"There!" Crystal muttered. "He's in there!"

She was pointing at a vent outlet, which was slightly opened.

Lavey squinted in the darkness, taking a step forward toward the vent opening.

Crystal tried to stop her, but she was tugged along behind Lavey to inspect the ventilation system closer.

"Cy, it's just the vent door thingy. See?" Lavey moved forward and grabbed the vent door, moving it back and forth. It caused a squeaking noise that made Crystal flinch. "It was just moving..."

Lavey frowned for a moment and leaned closer to the ventilation.

"You know, these are some pretty big vents, actually...," Lavey said with a contemplative look on her face. "That's actually big enough for a person, ya know..."

Crystal was still nervous, so Lavey tightened her grip on her hand.

"Come on, I know what to do."

Lavey led her down the hallway until they reached their bedroom again, tugging her inside until she got to Aella's bed.

"Give me the screwdriver."

"I don't have it," Aella said, muffled in her pillow.

"Give it to me or I'll tell our moms about last Friday."

A beat of silence.

"Take the screwdriver, woman! Man!" Aella cried, tossing the tool at her.

Lavey caught it and then trudged out of the room with Crystal tugged behind her.

She fixed the creaking vent door.

"It might not have been a ghost," Lavey said, pushing herself to her feet, "but I fixed it, and, for the record, I could have totally kicked some ghost ass."

Crystal stared at Lavey with an expression of awe that Lavey couldn't see in the darkness.

She finally laughed and nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, you _could_ kick some ghost ass!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: Almost all of these are from the discord and I copied them over!  
> Editor's note: Wow. I don't even know where to _begin_ fixing some of these. I'll just leave them as-is for now.
> 
> Crystal: Please don’t Lavey this I to another situation.  
> Lavey: Oka- Wait. Did- did you just use my name as a verb?  
> -  
> in: Lavey- what’s it like being so short?  
> Lavey: I can see everyone’s low ass IQs  
> -  
> Lavey: Stop it.  
> Crystal: Stop what-  
> Lavey: vaguely gestures that.  
> Crystal: yoU JUST GESTURED TO ALL OF ME???  
> -  
> Lavey: Damn, Adolpha, are you terms and conditions? Cause I really don't give a fuck about what you're trying to tell me.  
> -  
> Weiss: wHY IS THERE BLOOD EVERYWHERE??  
> Lavey: I may or may not have aggressively poked someone with a knife.  
> Weiss: YOU S T A B B E D SOMEONE?!  
> Lavey: N o. I aggressively poked someone with a knife.  
> -  
> Crystal: Yeah?! Well I hate you!  
> Lavey: No you don’t.  
> Crystal: No I don’t..  
> -  
> Jin: Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?  
> Lavey: No.  
> Jin: Turns to Adolpha ...What do I do.?  
> -  
> Lavey: I'm taking names, head, and kneecaps, in no particular order.  
> -  
> Jin: Lav- how tall are you- grins  
> Lavey; Tall enough to snatch you kneecaps.  
> Jin:  
> Jin: *backs away*  
> -  
> Lavey: I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff.  
> Akio: I witnessed the dumb stuff.  
> Lavey: I joined in the dumb stuff.  
> Crystal: I recorded the dumb stuff.  
> Weiss: I trIED TO STOP YOU FRKM DOING THE DUMB STUFF-  
> -  
> ex: Akio and Auburn walking home at night  
> Akio: Crap- it’s dark-  
> Auburn: I got this!  
> Auburn: stomps and his sketchers light up  
> Akio:  
> Auburn: :))  
> -  
> Jin: did you just call that knife a people opener?  
> Lavey:  
> Lavey: Was I not supposed to?  
> -  
> Crystal: So Lavey sneezed earlier and I accidentally said “Shut the fuck up” instead of “Bless you.”  
> Akio: How... Do you accidentally say that..?  
> -  
> Crystal: Is cursing a personality trait?


	5. The Menace

There was a loud shriek that echoed through the air, and Aella almost fell out of the sky in shock.

"Who was that? Was that Auburn again?" Jin asked, looking worried.

Adolpha's ear twitched, and a confused look came over her face.

"Uh, well, no, it was-"

Lavey came sprinting full force into the room, her Semblance clearly activated.

Lavey skidded to a stop when she saw all of her siblings in the living room, her eyes wide with fear.

"Lavey?!" Crystal cried, eyes going wide as she looked for whatever had scared her sister.

Aella had dropped from the air, grabbing her weapon. Akio and Auburn did the same, both looking frightened. Whatever had scared Lavey had to be _horrifying_! It had to be the worst thing that had ever been seen, perhaps a real huntsman or huntress, maybe one of their mothers' old enemies was back to life or-

"What happened?" Jin asked, putting herself between Lavey and the doorway worriedly.

"It came right toward me!"

"What did?" Crystal asked nervously.

"That!" Lavey shouted, pointing past her siblings.

They all whirled in fear-

Only to be met with...

"A spider?"

"A big one!" Lavey cried.

"It's, like, two centimeters in diameter," Akio said, voice monotone.

"It's horrifying!" Lavey shrieked.

"It's a little bug," Crystal said slowly, glancing at her sister, who was now holding her arm tightly and still looking at the spider in horror.

"It's a little _arachnid_ ," Akio corrected.

"And you're a little bitch, but we didn't have to be technical!" Crystal snapped, eyes narrowing as she stared at her brother.

Aella burst out laugh, and Crystal expected to hear Lavey join in, but Lavey was still staring at the spider with fear.

Crystal frowned in confusion, watching Lavey with evident disbelief.

"Kill it!" Lavey cried, still holding Crystal's arm in her hands tightly.

"It's not going to do anything to you," Jin said defensively.

"Don't you live in the ventilation system?" Adolpha asked.

"Yes, but it's clean and doesn't have any of those disgusting _things_ , now kill it!" Lavey cried.

"What's wrong with you?!" Crystal hissed. "I thought you were, like, not scared of anything!"

"Well, I might not be afraid of bullets, you six, our parents, or all the Grimm in the world, but I'm **definitely** scared of _that_!" Lavey cried.

Crystal shook her head in wonder.

"Oh my Dust. We finally found something that scares Lavey, and it's.... a _spider_ of all things!" Crystal cried.

"Shut up and kill it!" Lavey growled.

Crystal sighed and rolled her eyes before she slammed her boot against the ground, killing the creature and making Lavey sigh in relief.

"Thanks, Cy," she breathed.

"You're so damn weird."

"Thanks."


	6. Fast Food

"Excuse me," Adolpha called, placing her hand against the counter. Several workers jumped and glared at her, but Adolpha didn't seem to mind. "She asked _specifically_ that you not add mustard to her burger, which I know is an insane request, but you added **extra** mustard, so I am going to have to ask you to remake this."

"Dolph," Lavey said with a scoff and an eye roll. "That's not going to do anything."

Lavey then smashed her fist against the counter, creating a loud **bang** that echoed through the room.

Everyone stopped to stare at the young girl, and Lavey glared darkly.

"You see that giant?!" Lavey snapped, pointing at Jin, who was trying to hide herself in the booth and looking around with an apologetic smile on her face. " **That** is my sister, and you got her order wrong! Do you know how _difficult_ it is for that behemoth to talk to people?! She was just going to eat this burger until Adolpha said something! So you're going to take this back, and you're going to remake it! I would say that you need to apologize, but that would only make Jin more awkward than she already is! So hope to it! No mustard this time!"

Lavey gestured at Adolpha subtly, and the wolf faunus put on her best glare, crossing her arms against her chest.

The workers hurried to do as Lavey had yelled, and the two sisters walked back to their table.

"Are you alright?" Adolpha asked Jin, who was a dark shade of red.

"You didn't have to make a scene," Jin muttered, her scales starting to appear as she tried to make herself look as small as possible.

"Yeah, you really _shouldn't_ have," Weiss said with a dark glare. "I said that I would be able to take care of it when Jin mentioned it, but you two just had to go barging up there."

"Three, actually!" Aella said with a smirk.

"What did you even do?" Adolpha asked.

"Yeah, you didn't help at all," Lavey said with an eye roll.

"I didn't come up there to talk!" Aella said with a scoff. "I went up there because I wanted to watch the show! I mean, we don't get to see angry Adolpha much, and Lavey screaming at someone? That's always fun. I love her insults."

"Remember that time she called someone a disappointment to the apes we evolved from?" Crystal asked with a snicker.

Akio grinned.

"Remember when someone said this was a waste of time and she went 'well you were a waste of three point five billion years of evolution, but I don't hear the world complaining about that, Brenda!'" he asked.

"My favorite was when she told that guy that he was the reason she was glad she didn't have a father," Aella said.

"That guy was so confused!" Jin snickered, forgetting her embarrassment. "He was also like 'how can you not have a father?! That's impossible!'"

"My favorite was when she went," Adolpha cleared her throat and raised her voice to make it more similar to Lavey's, "'you're a fucking lampshade-'"

"Oh yeah!" Auburn cried. "And then she asked why Lavey said that, and she said-"

Lavey cut in.

"Because your presence makes the room darker."

"What about when she said 'you're the human equivalent of a stubbed toe' to our teacher?" Akio asked.

"She couldn't even get detention for that one cause it was technically not a curse word," Crystal said with a smirk.

"What about when she called her lab partner a slinky?" Auburn asked.

"Oh yeah! She said 'not good for much, but it'd bring a smile to my face to push you down a set of stairs!'" Adolpha cried.

"Once she just took a good long look at Uncle Jaune and said 'bottom' and then walked off," Crystal said, laughing so hard that she barely got the words out.

Weiss' eyes snapped to Lavey at the final one, staring in disbelief.

Lavey was grinning like a fool now, on the verge of laughter. It was very clear that she was quite pleased with herself, and her siblings, for once, didn't seem to mind.

"What about that time she just called someone a squeaky hammer and never explained it?" Akio asked.

"I didn't have an explanation," Lavey said with a shrug. "But they thought about it the rest of the day, which meant that it did its job."

"I _still_ think about that," Akio said, "so I'm sure they do too."

"Good," Lavey said, taking a seat and grabbing her food. Lavey had ordered four big macs and was already digging into the first one with reckless abandon. "She was a jerk."

"That's putting it mildly," Crystal said with a snort.

Weiss chanced a look at Crystal, giving her a small glare.

"And I wouldn't put it as anything other than mild!" Crystal said hastily, acting as if she hadn't called their classmate several of unseemly words.

Crystal was above that, of course.

Of course.

A few minutes later, the waiter came back out with her burger, and Jin quietly thanked them while Lavey glared.

Suffice it to say, Jin's burger was done correctly.

Lavey was very smug about that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Syntheia: I have a crush on you.  
> Alea: *panicking* You're welcome.

The fallout was almost explosive, and likely would have been if not for the house rule against such things.

Lavey and Crystal had upset the delicate balance upon which the favor system worked, and the rest of their siblings were left reeling afterwards.

The only favor that had been ridiculously hard to get was an Adolpha favor, but now Crystal and Lavey had given this a whole new meaning. There were no favors from the two, which didn't sound like a big deal, right? So what, maybe their siblings couldn't get things from them, and maybe they weren't able to get a few things done they usually would, but that wouldn't cause much of a difference in the day-to-day life within the Belladonna-Schnee household, right?  
  


Wrong. If you agree with that question, then you were two things. Logical, and dead wrong.

Because nothing was right in the house with the delicate balance destroyed.

Lavey's trading days were, apparently, at their end, and the youngest daughter didn't seem to have a care in the world. She was lounging about on her chair in the living room, Crystal sitting on the couch nearby as the two talked about the weather or watched television. It was a peaceful life for the pair, a life that they had never had the chance to live before.

But it didn't last long, considering their disaster siblings were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

This were different now, and it was almost a shock to Lavey just how much so. She had expected an upset, had even planned, perhaps hoped, for it, but this... this was not what she had planned...

But perhaps it was better.

Nobody seemed to understand the delicate art that was the trading of the favors. It was a dance, a craft that Lavey had perfected, like a game of chess. Each move had outcomes, and each of those outcomes had more of its own. It was the butterfly effect, but that was a boring name, if you asked Lavey, so she called it the sugar glider effect. It was wild, hard to predict and it never stopped, just like Aella, so she thought that the name fit much better than the butterfly effect.

Because the butterfly effect was impressive to watch, perhaps, in some situations, beautiful. But the sugar glider effect?

It was more like the tactics of war, and Lavey had to examine all of the possible outcomes that could come from one action. She would have expected Adolpha to be better at this, considering this was the basis of her entire Semblance, but Lavey thought that Adolpha was likely too logical for this sort of thing. Adolpha didn't expect the chaotic, hard to predict responses that would occur because of her siblings, and that was her weakness when it came to this game.

Lavey, on the other hand, spoke the language of the people, the chaotic nature that even Adolpha herself had.

Lavey knew that if she gave Crystal an Adolpha favor, she would save it for far too long, but also brag about it, which would alert the others that Crystal was up to something. Jin would be more distant with Crystal, not trusting what she would do with the favor, and so their trading would be more halted and only done out of necessity. Adolpha would be wary, not sure what Crystal would make her do with the favor, but the only noticeable change would be that she would secretly come to Lavey and trade for a Crystal favor or two. Akio would spend far too long thinking about what Crystal would do with that favor, which might cause him to sleep less the following night, and therefore be more susceptible to poor trades that Lavey could coax him into.

The entire thing was simplistic enough to Lavey, but to others, it seemed to be a puzzle that was impossible to solve because it had pieces from five different boxes and a piece of monopoly money that was just laying there in the center. Suffice it to say, this entire situation was as hard to understand as that metaphor was.

The chaos finally started to touch its two creators after three days.

"Stop buggin' me, Aub, if you want a favor from Akio, get it yourself," Lavey said with an eye roll and a huff, crossing her arms against her chest as she lounged, upside down, in her chair, staring at Auburn's feet. Crystal had snorted at Lavey's posture, which had only served to make her slouch further.

"But he won't give me one!" Auburn whined.

"Not my problem," Lavey said with a smirk. She raised one hand and waved. "Now shoo, can't you see I'm busy?"

"You can't seriously not be doing favors anymore!" Jin cried as she walked into the room, leaning back and resting against the wall. "You're way too much of a control freak to do that, Lav."

"If that so?" Lavey asked. "Then why am I not trading favors anymore? Face it, I grew up, I matured, and now I'm above your petty squabble."

"Yeah, that's why you punched Auburn in the face last night when he tried to get a shower before you," Akio said.

"That," Lavey's hand shot up and she pointed vaguely at where her brother stood, though not quite at him, "was no petty squabble, my dear brother! That was a matter of honor, war, and triumph!"

"It hurt," Auburn muttered.

  
"You were fine ya big baby," Crystal said with an eye roll.

Lavey sent her a crooked smirk.

"Come on, Lav, just tell us why you're doing this so you can finish your power play and we can get back on with our lives," Adolpha said.

"I'm not the only one doing this, Wolfie," Lavey said, gesturing at Crystal, who had a smug look on her face, arms crossed against her chest with her tail twitching back and forth.

"But we all know that she was brought into this by you," Adolpha said with a hand wave, "and you obviously have a reason for that, probably to backstab, betray, or pin this on her, if not all of the above. So, Lavey, why don't you just tell us your whole elaborate scheme, we can be suitably impressed, and then move on with our lives."

Lavey was silent for a long moment.

Crystal glanced at her with a single raised eyebrow.

Lavey's lips slowly spread into a grin.

"Is that what you think this is, Adolpha? Some way to get something from you five? Please! My goals exceed your primitive imagination! And as for Crystal? She knows why she's here, I know why she's here, and you," Lavey gestured lackadaisically at Crystal.

"Fuck yourself," Crystal finished for her.

"Thank you," Lavey said with a smirk. She waved her hand.

Nobody moved.

"I **said** thank you," Lavey said, waving her hand once more.

Finally, her siblings started to mutter to themselves and trail out of the room, many sending the pair glares.

Lavey let out a groan of frustration before she pushed her feet off the headrest of the chair, sending her into a barrel roll across the floor until she landed perfectly on her feet.

"Come on," she said.

Crystal looked up from her book.

"Where?"

"I said come on, not meet me somewhere in twenty minutes," Lavey said with an eye roll. "Just come on."

Crystal muttered something to herself, which Lavey was certain was a curse word, though she was no longer surprised when her sister cursed like she'd been raised in a barn.

Lavey stopped when they reached the hallway, looking up at a vent that was several feet above her head.

She rolled her eyes.

"Why are houses always built for tall people?" she muttered.

"To be fair, most people don't need to access the vents on a daily basis," Crystal said with a shrug and a small smirk.

"Yeah, and most people are boring," Lavey replied, barely bending her legs as she leapt into the air.

She reached one hand out and caught a bit of the vent, her other reaching into her pocket, where she pulled out a screwdriver from.

She used it on the already loose vent door and was sent swinging down from her hand hold.

She swung back and forth for a moment with a smirk on her face, her hand with the screwdriver whipping forward to catch the two screws that she had let fall in the process of opening the door to her domain.

Lavey then kicked her legs upward, catapulting into the vents.

Crystal rolled her eyes at the theatrics, especially considering there had been a vent in the other room that Lavey could have gotten into much easier, but had clearly forgone because it would be less fun.

A moment later, Lavey's head popped back out of the vent and she reached a hand down.

Crystal rolled her eyes again, this time coupling it with a long-suffering sigh.

Regardless, she hopped a few inches, holding her arm up.

Her hand found purchase in Lavey's own, and her sister tugged her up.

Once Crystal was in the vents, Lavey closed the door and turned to face her sister with a grin.

"Well, it sure is working!" Lavey said smugly.

Crystal didn't respond.

"What's wrong?"

Silence.

"Is this about Adolpha's comment? You know you're not bait or anything, right?"

Crystal looked away.

"Oh my _**Dust**_ , Cy! I'm not going to betray you, you idiot," she said, punching her sister in the arm.

Crystal rubbed her arm, gaze darting to Lavey.

"I know that."

"Can't believe you don't trust me by now, Cy. I'm _very_ trustworthy," Lavey said, lounging in the vent with a smirk. Crystal saw something in her eyes, though.

"I do trust you."

Crystal and Lavey held eye contact for a moment, and Lavey gave her a real smile for a second before it turned to a grin and she started to get distracted.

"How long until they crack, you think?" Lavey asked.

"With them acting like this way?" Crystal smirked. "A day."


	8. Realizations

It's not that the seven of team RWBY's children were stupid, they just didn't seem to realize the most simplistic things.

"Wait!" Auburn shouted.

"Can you _not_ scream, please?" Adolpha snapped.

Auburn didn't seem to notice, even as Adolpha's ears twitched.

"If we're related to grandpa and grandma-"

"As one would assume we are," Crystal said with an eye roll.

Auburn ignored her as well.

"-then that means that we're related to the Chieftain of the Faunus, right?"

"One would, once again, assume," Crystal said.

"Then that means that we're in line to be the heirs, right?" Auburn asked.

"Duh," Lavey said. She was tossing a ball up and down and catching it up in her hand with ease.

"Oh shit," Crystal breathed. "Are we?"

"Duh," Lavey said again, turning to glance at her sister with narrowed eyes. "Did you seriously not put this together until now?"

There was a beat of silence, and Lavey looked around the group for a second, frowning.

"Are you all seriously this stupid?" Lavey asked. "Did none of you realize that?!"

"I realized it, but mostly because I'm the oldest, so... most likely to get stuff like that, ya know," Adolpha said with a shrug.

"I could easily kill you. This sort of thing happens a lot in monarchies," Lavey said with a smirk.

Adolpha stared at her with a look that seemed to question if Lavey was telling the truth or not.

Lavey let out a laugh and gave her sister a wink, but it still didn't seem to calm Adolpha too much.

"So wait you didn't realize this at all?" Lavey continued.

"Of course not," Crystal said slowly. It was clear that she was lying, considering she wasn't as good a liar as Lavey is.

"You're the worst damn liar that I have ever met," Lavey said, rolling her eyes.

"Next you're going to tell me that you didn't realize that we're technically possible heirs to the Schnee Dust Company," Adolpha said, sharing a grin with Lavey.

There was a beat of silence.

"OH MY DUST!" Auburn cried. "We are, aren't we?!"

"Son of a... of course we are!" Lavey said.

There was a long moment of silence.

"So uh... our family is kinda messed up," Auburn said.

"You're just realizing this?!" Adolpha hissed.

"Two of our mothers are sisters, half of us are both siblings and first cousins, we're related to the Schnee family, but almost all of us our Faunus, and... and have you _met_ out family?!"

"Yeah but that stuff isn't so weird," Auburn said.

"If you looked up the definition of weird in the dictionary, there would be a picture of our family," Jin said.

"Yes! The best word!" Aella cried. She was currently flopped across two different chairs with her gliders extended.

"I mean, not _the_ best word. There's still destruction, vengeance, weapons, swords, hammers, scythes, ha-"

Crystal unceremoniously leaned over and slapped her hand over her sister's mouth to stop her from speaking any further.

Lavey rolled her eyes before an evil smirk grew across her lips.

"EW!" Crystal cried, yanking her hand away and hastily wiping her hand on her pants and trying to clean the saliva on it. Lavey had licked her hand to get her to take it off of her mouth.

"Keep your hands to yourself," Lavey said, rolling her eyes.

"You literally never do," Aella said with a raised eyebrow.

"Do as I say, not as I do," Lavey said, smirking.

"How did I not realize that our family is weird?" Auburn asked.

"Because you're stupid," Lavey said, waving her hand dismissively.


	9. New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Character in this fic, Mavros, was created by Frosted_Milk

"I'm going to climb you like a fucking tree."

  
"Okay, long as I get to punt you like the football you are."

  
"I'm not a football, I'm a gremlin, and I could beat you eight ways to Sunday."

  
"I'd like to see you try."

  
Lavey's eyes lit up in excitement at the words.

  
"Really? Can I?"

  
They raised an eyebrow and watched Lavey with a slightly confused yet intrigued look.

  
"No, no, no, no, you can't do that," Crystal said quickly, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder.

  
"Hey, this girl bothering you?" They asked, raising an eyebrow.

  
"Always, but it's her job," Lavey said, waving her hand dismissively.

  
"I'm her sister," Crystal said, rolling her eyes, "and more than ninety percent of her impulse control, so she really needs me to be bothering her."

  
"True," Lavey said, her eyes still sparkling with excitement as she looked at her new potential friend.

  
"Wait, Lav, did you introduce yourself?" Crystal asked, raising an eyebrow.

  
"Uh, no not yet," Lavey said with a shrug.

  
Crystal rolled her eyes.

  
"You have no damn manners," Crystal chided.

  
They snorted at the words, and Lavey shared a grin with them.

  
"Hi, my name's Lavey Belladonna-Schnee," she said, doing an overly formal bow.

  
"Mavros," they said, taking Lavey's offered hand and shaking it gently.

  
"Why are you like this?" Crystal asked with a sigh.  
  


"Because I can be, I enjoy being, and I believe that you haven't introduced yourself, which is rather rude."  
  


Crystal rolled her eyes sufferingly.  
  


"My name's Crystal Belladonna-Schnee, and this little idiot is my sister."

"I'm not little," Lavey muttered, arms crossed against her chest.

"You're like a foot tall," Jin said, walking up to join her siblings with a small smirk as she crossed her arms.

Today was their first night of their time at Beacon, and they were starting to get to know some of their fellow classmates that they hadn't grown up with.

Mavros was the first one that Lavey had gotten to know very well.

"She's pretty tiny, but so are all of you," Mavros said with a smug smirk.

They towered over their fellow classmates, considering they were over six and a half feet tall, and their bright hellfire orange eyes and ram horns made them stand out in the room for all to see.

Jin glared at them, and Lavey's eyes sparkled.

"You just made fun of Jin for being short. You're my giant now, and I will call you such."

"Cool. You're my gremlin."

"I'm a gremlin of the world, good person, and therefore I cannot be tied down to one such as yourself, no matter how majestic you might be! But ah, such is the trials in the life of a Lavey such as myself!" Lavey spoke with an unnecessarily fancy tone and a bow at the end of her words. "Now come along! There's lots of mischief to be doing!"


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't the same as it was back home.

The vents back home weren't as spacious as the ones here, but the ones at home were more familiar and easy to move through, considering she knew them like the back of her hand.

She was trying to create a mental map of the place, and she was creating a written one for until she was able to memorize it.

She was crawling through the vents with a determined expression on her face, pulling it out of her pocket and starting to take more notes.

Lavey wiggled in the vents while doing so, and suddenly there was a loud creak, which caused her to gasp in shock. The vents shook around her, and Lavey let out a loud curse as the ventilation system around her broke apart, causing her to come collapsing down into a dorm room.

"SON OF A BIT-"

She hit a bed with a _thud_ , and as she hit it, she absorbed a bit of energy.

Lavey rolled to a sitting position and looked up at the ceiling.

"Damn school. Doesn't even know how to make proper wall transportation."

She shook her head for a moment and started to consider, only to be alerted by her Semblance that someone was watching her.

"Hey, Lav! Fancy seeing you here. In my room, I mean," Ilesha said.

Lavey jumped and looked back at her, frowning.

"Kid! You scared me!" she snapped, feeling her face heat up. It was a confusing sensation, one that she typically associated with embarrassment, though she was hardly ever embarrassed, even when she fell out of a gaping hole in the ceiling that she herself had caused.

Ilesha let out a quiet laugh and shook her head.

"You don't have to call me kid, you know, Lavey. I'm in the same grade of you now."

Lavey looked Ilesha in for a moment. She was tall, far more so than Lavey herself, and was only a hair bit shorter than Jin. She had her hair cut to about her ears, where it curled gently and gave it a bouncing appearance that made her look slightly like a puppy. Said hair was a very dark shade of blond, just a hair away from being brown, with blond streaks. Her eyes, which held a small playful and kind light, were a dark shade of brown, which made them look like large orbs of chocolate.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you are, but you're still...," Ilesha held her hand out and helped Lavey to her feet, "a kid..."

"At heart maybe!" Ilesha said, giving her a wink and a grin.

Lavey didn't know what she was going to say in response, and she even found herself a tad bit tongue tied, which was an odd feeling for her.

"Hey, Lav," another familiar voice called.

Lavey took the distraction gladly, turning to face Mavros.

"Hey, Mav!" she said, her voice sounding louder than usual.

"You alright?" Mavros asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, as if he knew something else that she didn't.

Lavey didn't like that sort of expression unless she was the one that was getting to sport it smugly. She didn't much liking someone else doing the same.

"Yeah, just fell through the ceiling, ya know, typical Tuesday things," Lavey said, her eyes darting to the side to look at Ilesha, who was leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed lackadaisically, giving Lavey a small smile.

"I don't know, considering I'm not, and have never been, small enough to fit in the ventilation systems, but I suppose that makes sense for a gremlin such as yourself."

"Are you a self-proclaimed gremlin now?" Ilesha asked.

"Uh yeah," Lavey said, rubbing her arm with one hand.

"Something wrong?" Ilesha asked.

Lavey flushed.

"No, nothing's wrong! Can you guys stop asking me that?!" Lavey snapped, turning so that she wasn't facing her childhood friend and looked up at the vents.

"You need a hand up?" Mavros asked with a small smirk.

"If you were going to help me up there, I'd need more than a hand. Let me on your shoulders."

"I don't do back rides."

"Is this a Faunus thing?"

"Perhaps."

"Well I'm sure as Dust not racist, though Crystal might bitch at me like I am, so just calm down and let me get a ride up there."

"Why don't you just jump up?" Ilesha asked, her head tilted to the side slightly as she did when she was confused. "You do it enough."

"Not as much fun!" Lavey said, her voice sounding odd to her ears as she refused to look back at Ilesha.

"Alright, I'll help you up," Mavros said with a shrug, "but you seriously have to clean this up on your own later."

"That's what you think!" Lavey said, climbing up her friend's shoulders like a little gremlin and reaching yup to the ceiling.

Just then, the door slammed open.

"LAVEY PENNY BELLADONNA-SCHNEE!" Adolpha shrieked.

"Quick!" Lavey cried, hopping up toward the vents.

Adolpha dashed forward, leaping to the left and landing on a chair, which she pushed off of and then flew over Mavros' head, grabbing Lavey around the waist and bringing the two of them falling toward the ground.

Before they could, a form stepped in front of the two falling sisters, grabbing them and taking a step back to balance themselves.

Lavey looked up in confusion, and she was met with the smiling face of Ilesha.

"You alright?" she asked gently, ignoring Adolpha as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine... now get offa me! You know better than to touch me!" Lavey said, her hands, which were shaking slightly, then tried to clean the imaginary dirt off of her clothing.

"Stay out of the vents, Lav!" Adolpha cried, reaching out and grabbing Lavey by the hand, only to drag her out of the room.

Adolpha was starting to rant to Lavey about the health hazards, the safety protocols, and other reasons.

But Lavey looked rather distracted, which caused Adolpha to hesitate on their way back to their dorm room.

"Lavey, what's-"

"See you later, Lav!" Ilesha cried, waving down the hallway at her.

Adolpha's eyes shifted between Lavey and Ilesha before they all but popped out of her skull.

"Uh... Oh... Oh!"

"What?!" Lavey snapped, her eyes shooting to her sister.

Adolpha smirked.

"Nothing."


	11. The Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes for this chapter: Chapter 9 happens the night before this before they pick teams. Chapter 10 takes places after this one and the next chapter.

Today was the day!

Adolpha bounced up and down on her toes in her excitement, practicing her punches against helpless air around her, as if she would need to punch a Grimm in the face today.

Jin was muttering to herself, as if she was trying to recall the flashcards Akio had made verbatim in case something went wrong. She always had been a tad bit paranoid.

Akio was looking at said flashcards, which he no longer let any of his siblings see, lest he lose valuable seconds studying for something that, in most people’s opinions, couldn’t be studied for.

Aella was talking to Ruby, asking her how she had done it when she was their age and what her landing strategy had been at the time. Ruby was getting into the conversation, a large grin on her face as she recounted not only her first day at their new school, but the day she met the two women she would one day marry.

Crystal was quietly talking with Weiss, her mother trying to remind her of every possible type of glyph. Crystal would have typically been annoyed at Weiss’ helicopter parenting, but at the moment she was soaking up all of the information that she could get.

Lavey was lounging on the ground, her arms behind her head and one leg kicked over the other, eyes shut. She had on a small smirk, though, to be fair, when didn’t she? Blake watched her and shook her head with a small sigh, rolling her eyes. The cat Faunus considered stopping her daughter from being so standoffish on her first day here, but a form walked up and began to chat with Lavey before she had the chance.

Auburn was sweating profusely and was talking with Yang, asking her dozens upon dozens of questions about the school, anything from the dorm rooms to the selection of partners. Yang was trying to calm him down, especially considering the fact that he looked rather green around the gills, literally, which was always a bad sign. At least, it had been when he was a baby… he wouldn’t throw up because of stress now… probably?

Yang decided not to take that chance.

Adolpha was still practicing her form, and also trying to work out some of her nervous excitement, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped and spun, her instincts taking over and making her send out a punch.

Her fist was caught before it could make contact with the person who had snuck up on her, and there was a giggle.

“Wow, and here I thought you and I were close!”

Adolpha’s eyes widened as she realized who she had almost hit, and she flushed a light shade of pink.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

Romy reached her free hand up, the one that wasn’t still holding Adolpha’s own, and set a finger against Adolpha’s lips to silence her.

“You know I love them,” Romy smirked, “but we really don’t have time for one of your trademark rambing sessions. I just came here to say good luck before my moms drag me away.”

Adolpha glanced up, finding that Romy’s identical twin sister, Romelle, was distracting Ciel and Neo for Romy so that she had the chance to speak to the wolf Faunus.

“So, good luck,” Romy said, removing her finger from Adolpha’s lips.

“Right!” Adolpha forced herself to focus on the current situation. “Right, you too. Good luck, I mean.”

Romy let out a quiet laugh and sent Adolpha one last smirk before she darted off to rejoin her sister and parents before either of her mothers could realize that she had been gone.

Adolpha watched her go.

Romy had grown up over the past few years, though, Adolpha presumed that was to be expected…

She had long pink and brown hair, which hung down to about the base of her shoulders when kept in its usual ponytail. She was small, just like both of her parents, and was about Lavey’s own height, something that Adolpha used to make fun of quite a bit. Romy glanced over her shoulder to meet Adolpha’s gaze once she got to her parents. Her heterochromatic eyes, one pink and one blue like Ciel’s, sparkled with mischief at having gotten away with her last trick.

“Hey, Remnant to Adolpha,” Jin said, waving her hand in front of her older sister’s face to gain her attention. “You alright?”

Adolpha jumped and stared at her sister in surprise, wondering when she had gotten there.

“What? Oh! Yeah, I’m alright. Sorry, I was just… thinking about today.”

Jin raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t question her.

Meanwhile, Lavey cracked one eye open to see who had interrupted her fake slumber.

Ilesha stared down at her with a slightly sheepish smile, waving at the older girl.

“What could you possibly want so badly right this second that was worth waking a slumbering gremlin?” Lavey asked in a slow drawl, staring at her childhood friend incredulously.

Ilesha let out a little giggle.

“You’re not a gremlin, Lav. You know, my parents say that you shouldn’t talk badly about yourself.”

“Well, they ain’t my parents,” Lavey said, letting her eyes shut and trying to end the conversation.

Ilesha just laughed again.

“Good thing too!” Ilesha continued, waving her hand. “But I was just trying to say that you should think better of yourself.”

Lavey let out a sigh and looked up at Ilesha, deciding that her fake nap would have to wait, considering the kid was pestering her.

“She already thinks too highly of herself, maybe some humbleness would do her good,” Crystal said with an eye roll from where she stood beside Weiss.

Lavey flushed lightly and glared at Crystal for the interruption.

“Maybe she should,” Ilesha said before Lavey could speak. “She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

Lavey and Crystal both looked up at Ilesha incredulously.

“Didn’t know you were kept locked in your house as a child. Coulda sworn I saw you out and about from time to time,” Lavey said, shrugging from her place on the ground.

Ilesha rolled her eyes playfully. She looked like she was going to say something else, not that Lavey was watching her or anything, but a chiming bell interrupted her.

Ilesha jumped and looked up, eyes narrowing for just a moment in confusion before she seemed to remember what exactly was going on.

“Well, I have to go before my parents start crying again,” Ilesha said with a giggle.

Lavey waited for her to turn and go, but instead, Ilesha leaned down and held out her hand, which Lavey watched with confusion.

Ilesha rolled her eyes and grabbed Lavey’s hand before standing and pulling her to her feet.

Ilesha turned to go, Lavey watching her, but then hesitated and looked over her shoulder.

“You know, you should learn to accept help. Some people might just care about you.”

With that, Ilesha ran off with a wide, almost goofy smile.

Lavey felt her heart hammering in her chest as she followed her path with her gaze, not realizing that her parents and siblings had already gathered together for one final goodbye before the launching session.

“Lavey!” Crystal snapped, causing her sister to jump and spin around. “Stop staring at the Ajax girl and get over here, ya creeper!”

Lavey flushed and glared at her sister darkly.

“I wasn’t staring!” she protested, though she jogged over to join her mothers and siblings.

“I can’t believe you’re all really leaving us,” Ruby said, wiping at her eyes. Blake wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, but the cat Faunus didn’t seem to be in much better shape than Ruby herself.

Weiss sniffed and wiped at her tears, trying to get rid of them before her children saw.

“We’re not leaving you! You’re  _ literally _ going to be here the  _ entire time _ ! Calm down,” Lavey said, though her voice was softer than it usually was.

“But still,” Yang said, reaching her arms out and grabbing all of her children at once, pulling them all in for a tight hug. “It’s different now! You’re all so big now! I mean… except for Lavey, but she’s older!’

“Hey!” Lavey cried, wiggling in her mother’s grasp, but she didn’t try to escape, even as she was shoved up against Adolpha, the two sharing a slightly fond and slightly suffering look.

The group hug must have lasted for several minutes, considering the second warning bell went off before their mothers had let the seven of them go.

“Remember, Lav, don’t break anything for the first twenty-four hours, don’t want to have a bad welcome,” Blake said, knowing better than to expect her daughter to keep from destroying things.

“No promises!” Lavey cried, giving her a salute before she raced off.

“And Cy, remember the glyphs we went over!” Weiss called.

“Don’t be nervous, Aub!” Yang yelled.

“Don’t get distracted while flying!” Ruby called after Aella.

“Don’t study too late, Kio!” Blake yelled. Her wives glanced at her for the hypocritical words, but they decided against saying anything about that, if only for Akio’s sake.

“Don’t be shy, Jinny!” Ruby cheered.

“And keep them in line, Dolpha!” Weiss called.

The seven disappeared from their sight, and the four members of team RWBY sighed, glancing at one another with sad expressions.

“I can’t believe they’re already grown up,” Ruby mumbled, falling closer to Blake.

“Hey, they’re still stuck here for another four years, Rubes,” Yang said with a grin, wiping away her own tears hastily. “Stuck here  _ with us _ !”

-

Lavey grinned at Adolpha.

“I bet I find a partner before you,” she said.

“That’s not even a competition,” Adolpha replied, rolling her eyes.

“Everything’s a competition if you’re not a wuss,” Lavey said with a shrug. “Though, I suppose, I already won this one, considering you forfeited…”

Adolpha glared at her.

“That’s not what I said, I said this was a stupid bet!”

“Thank you, I really do try,” Lavey said with a smirk.

Adolpha groaned.

“How can you be so  **annoying** ?!”

“It’s an art, my dear sister, and  _ I _ … am an  **artist** !”

“You could say that again,” Crystal muttered, rolling her eyes.

Lavey snickered.

“I could, but where’s the fun in the repetition? My beauty is in my originality! So, you in, Dolph?”

“This is stupid,” Adolpha said.

“But that’s not an answer.”

Adolpha sighed and ran a hand through her hair sufferingly.

“Fine. Fine! I’m in, but only so I can wipe that smug grin off of your face.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way!” Lavey said, grinning in excitement.

Adolpha rolled her eyes and turned to face the forest, focusing on what the headmistress was saying.

After a moment, Adolpha realized that she was discussing landing strategies, so she decided to tune out of the conversation once more. Their mothers had been talking about  _ those _ for months now, on and off, of course, and Adolpha was sick of it.

Aella was snickering to herself.

“Land? You guys have to  _ do that _ ? Pfft, lame.”

“Not all of us are gremlins of the flying variety,” Lavey said, rolling her eyes.

“Exactly! Not all of us are as  _ amazing _ as me,” Aella said dramatically.

“Ms. Belladonna-Schnee, is there something you would like to share with the class?” Glynda asked.

Everyone looked at Aella, who just grinned.

“Not at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll think up something later, so come back to me!”

Lavey snickered and barely stopped herself from snorting at the words.

The headmistress shook her head and glared at Aella, who sent her a grin.

She continued talking about landing strategies before she unceremoniously sent the first student flying through the air toward the forest.

Auburn looked a bit sick, and Adolpha reached over, setting a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you’re going to be fine, just calm down.”

Auburn sent Adolpha a small, thankful smile, and was about to say something, but it was cut off by his own screaming as he was sent flying through the air.

Lavey burst out laughing, and was almost blind sided when she was sent off too, but she quickly reacted and readied her landing strategy.

She needed to find a partner, and fast so that she could beat Adolpha.


	12. Partners

Lavey smacked the ground full force, thankful for her Semblance allowing her to absorb the kinetic energy.

“Pfft, landing strategies, nobody needs those,” Lavey said with a small smirk. She popped her back and took off through the forest with a small bounce to her steps. She needed to find a partner, and soon.

Unwanted, a face appeared in her mind, and she shook her head to remove the weird thoughts of Ilesha. She didn’t know why she had imagined it, it was stupid.

Maybe she wanted to make sure she was taking care of the kid. After all, she was a bit younger than the rest of them, so it made sense that she would want to try to take care of her.

So it was settled! Lavey was going to hunt through the forest and find either Crystal or Ilesha so that she could partner with one of them.

-

Jin stepped through the forest carefully, her eyes searching. She wanted to partner with Adolpha, the two had talked about it a few times and decided that they wanted to, but this was a hard place to find someone specific.

Regardless, she was sure that Adolpha would be able to find her. Adolpha was good at that sort of thing.

In fact, Adolpha was good at a lot of things, most of which she wished she could be decent at as well, though she doubted she would be.

-

Adolpha was looking for Jin. Well, she was kind of looking for Jin, somewhat, but she was also hoping that she would find Romy.

She couldn’t actually search her out, but she probably wouldn’t even be able to find her randomly.

She was trying to make quick work of finding her partner, if only to finally show Lavey that she wasn’t always going to win. She wanted to show Lavey up, had been trying to for years, but hadn’t been able to as of yet.

She was **determined** to do so, even if it killed her.

-

Aella was gliding through the forest, her gaze focused on the ground, searching. She has been searching through the forest for her correct partner. She had a few options, and she was one of the few people that would ever be able to definitely decide who their partner was going to be.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Romy, and a small smirk grew across her lips.

_That’s the one Adolpha’s into, right?_ she thought giddily. _That’s perfect!_

Aella swooped down.

“Is that you, Aella?” Romy asked, staring at the ground as Aella thudded against it.

“The one and only!”

Romy looked up and met her gaze, a smirk on her face.

“Pleasure to partner with ya!”

-

Crystal wanted to find Lavey. They had discussed partnering a few times before, and she definitely would like to be on a team with Lavey.

Lavey was chaotic, rude, and mean, but she was also a great teammate, which she had learned from the great favor war two years ago, and the two of them got along pretty well, so if the two of them ended up-

Suddenly, she heard a **snap** and she looked up at the tree above her, only for her to get one image of someone falling down toward her.

“AHHH!” she cried as she was slammed against the ground.

“Sorry!” a familiar voice cried.

Crystal looked up with incredulity.

“AUBURN?!” she cried as she made eye contact with her brother.

“Hey, Crystal!” he said happily, sitting up and rolling off of her. He was lucky that he did so, considering Crystal would have thrown her brother off of her if he hadn’t gotten up.

“I can’t believe you’re my partner.”

“Is that bad?” Auburn asked.

Crystal stared at him for a long moment before she stalked off.

“Just come on, you little menace.”

-

Akio heard footsteps behind him and spun, reaching down for his weapon, and was met with his little cousin.

“Cooper?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Hey, Kio!” he said happily, waving at him before he hesitated. “Are you not happy to see me? I saw you, and I thought that you and I were close, so we could be good partners-”

“Coop,” Akio said quickly, putting up his hands to stop his cousin, “calm down,” he gave him a smile, “I’m glad that we’re partners. Now come on, we need to find the relics.”

-

Adolpha stopped as soon as she watched into the small clearing, her eyes widening in shock.

In front of her, Lavey was fighting against a Grimm, Adolpha wasn’t worried about her killing it. In fact, she kinda felt back for the little guy, considering Lavey was the one that was going to kill them, and she was going to be merciless.

Adolpha tried to take a step back out of the clearing, but she saw the shadow of Lavey turning around.

Most things in this life aren’t certain, Adolpha of all people knew that very well, but this…

This was one hundred percent certain.

“Fuck!” Adolpha cried.

Just then, Lavey jumped at the word, and she turned to face her sister, their eyes meeting.

Adolpha froze.

Four years. They were going to be partners for four years.

She was going to be stuck with this diabolical gremlin for four years.

Lavey smirked, though she looked a bit disappointed.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me!” Lavey said. “Now come on, let’s go!”

Adolpha didn’t move.

“Hey, Remnant to Adolpha!” Lavey called, waving her hand in front of her oldest sister’s face.

Adolpha jumped, looking slightly confused, and Lavey sighed.

Lavey reached out and grabbed her sister by the hand, dragging her out of the clearing in search of the relic.


	13. Team

Adolpha was still in a state of shock when they grabbed their relic, which meant that she didn’t notice Lavey start whispering to Crystal.

The two had slightly mischief expressions on their faces as they snatched onto matching relics so that they could be on the same team.

Adolpha still couldn’t believe that she was actually partnered with Lavey of all people. She would have preferred pretty much any of their other siblings to Lavey, perhaps even Auburn or Crystal.

Adolpha didn’t seem to notice Jin, nor her partner, as the two grabbed their own relic and then got ready to leave.

_ / _

_ Jin walked through the forest carefully, picking through it gently as she watched for anyone or anything. _

_ She heard movement in the forest, which caused her to jump and reach down to grab her weapon. Before she could raise it, a form tumbled out. _

_ “Hey, Jin,” Romelle said. “How you doing?” _

_ “Uh… alright, I guess?” Jin asked, though it probably shouldn’t be a question. “Shouldn’t I be asking if you’re okay? I mean… you just rolled out of the forest randomly…” _

_ Romelle looked up and the pair met eyes. _

_ “Yeah, it’s just a forest rolling kinda day. Help me up, partner?” _

_ Jin reached down and grabbed the short girl by the hand, tugging her to her feet. _

_ She supposed that if she wasn’t going to be partners with Adolpha, Romelle would be alright. Maybe she could still be on the same team as Adolpha. _

_ / _

Ilesha waved with a small smile on her face.

Lavey flushed for a moment and then waved back at her friend before Ilesha spun to her partner, Mavros, who had on a small smirk as they watched Lavey.

_ / _

_ “I’M MARY POPPINS, Y’ALL!” _

_ Ilesha jumped and looked up at the form that was floating down toward her. _

_ “Uh… hello?” Ilesha said slowly as the unknown form met her gaze. _

_ “Hey, pleasure to meet you, my name’s Mavros, and I’m here to make your life a living hell, but, like, in a fun way.” _

_ “Uh… cool. Well, I think that I saw the relics over there, but I didn’t want to be the first one to get there, so…” _

_ Mavros reached down and put his hand on her back, guiding her forward toward the direction of the relics. _

_ “Well it’s a good thing you’ve got me, because I’m going to go get us that relic!” _

_ / _

The large group of people raced back toward the school.

-

Glynda stood at the front of the first years, teachers behind her. Several waved, and Penny called out, “HEY COOPY POO!”

He had called out in return, “HEY MOMMY!”

Now that the two had quieted down, the headmistress had started to announce teams.

“Team IMCA,” pronounced like Inca, “consisting of Ilesha Ajax, Mavros Verin, Cooper Schnee-Polendina, and Akio Belladonna-Schnee. Team IMCA will be led by Ilesha Ajax.”

Ilesha didn’t seem to notice that she was team leader, though her teammates were all staring at her and waiting for her response.

“Wait, is it spelled IMCA?” she asked.

Glynda hesitated before she looked down at Ilesha, nodding.

Ilesha suddenly grinned.

“I-M-C-A,” she said, singing it to the tune of YMCA.

Stacey face-palmed.

Alea started to quietly hum to it.

Lexey was hissing and trying to stop their oldest child from doing that, though Syntheia and Terresa were laughing loudly at Ilesha’s antics.

There was a beat of silence in the room, and Ilesha swore that she could hear crickets.

She then continued to sing, if only to alleviate some of the tension.

“It’s fun to stay in the I-M-C-A dorm room,” she sang.

Lavey was gaping at her from the front row.

Ilesha stared at her and gave her a wink.

“YOUNG MAN!” he shouted, starting to dance some, though it was more like a sway.

Ilesha was bouncing up and down, starting to hum the sound.

Cooper giggled and started to dance with them as well.

  
Akio stared at his teammates for a long moment before he laughed and shook his head, doing the same.

  
Glynda motioned for them to go to their seats, but the four were still humming. Mavros and Ilesha shared a long smile before they took their seats finally.

“The next team will be team JARR, consisting of Jin Belladonna-Schnee, Aella Belladonna-Schnee, Romy Soliel, and Romelle Soliel. Team leader Jin Belladonna-Schnee.”

Jin froze.

Wait.

She… she was on a team with  _ Aella, Romy,  _ **_and_ ** _ Romelle _ ?! She thought that being with Romelle was going to be a lot, but now she had  **three** little gremlins on her team, and she couldn’t believe it.

And she was **team leader** ?!

She looked into the audience to her older sister, hoping that Adolpha would give her hope.

She was still in a state of shock, considering Lavey was her partner.

Aella guided Jin off of the stage, her sister numb.

“And team LAAC will consist of Lavey Belladonna-Schnee, Adolpha Belladonna-Schnee, Auburn Belladonna-Schnee, and Crystal Belladonna-Schnee with team leader Lavey.”

There was a heavy silence that fell over the crowd as they all gaped.

Adolpha stood there, eyes wide as she rocked back and forth on her heels, barely standing up straight.

Auburn shrugged and gave Lavey a congratulatory thumbs up. Meanwhile, the silence had been broken by Akio’s cackling. He sounded like a witch, bending over and he would have fallen if his cousin hadn’t stabilized him.

Crystal suddenly started to laugh, her eyes filling with excitement as she leaned back, reaching back behind Auburn and Adolpha and holding out her fist.

Lavey  **beamed** and bumped her fist against Crystal’s own, starting to cackle.

“ **This** ,” Lavey said, “is going to be great.”

  
Adolpha’s eyes fell shut and she toppled backward, hitting the ground.

The world went dark.

A few moments later, she found that Auburn was helping her to her feet, though Adolpha just sat there limply, staring dully as Lavey and Crystal started to talk enthusiastically about the idea of Lavey being the team leader.

Adolpha didn’t know what she was going to do this year.


	14. Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm getting a BUNCH of requests, and I get that you all want certain things, but I really need to close this request thing because you all want so many different things and I can't.
> 
> Sorry guys!!!

“Good job becoming team leader,” Mavros said, smirking down at their friend.

“Thanks, it was difficult. There was a lot of competition, lots of people,” Lavey smirked at Adolpha, “who wanted the position but were far too lame to get it.”

“I think you’re going to be a great team leader,” Ilesha said with a small smile.

Lavey hesitated, glancing up at her.

“Uh, thanks, Lesha,” Lavey said, feeling her face flush. “You, uh, you too.”

“Thanks! I’m pretty excited for this year actually! Oh, it’s going to be _so much fun_ !” Ilesha had leaned forward and set her hand on Lavey’s shoulder, leaning closer and **beaming** at Lavey.

Lavey could hear her pulse in her head, and she looked away, even as Ilesha moved closer. For some reason, Lavey could hear Ilesha resaying the words over and over again in her head, and she couldn’t make them stop.

“Something wrong, Lav?” Ilesha asked.

“What?” she snapped, glancing back at her. “Oh, yeah, sorry, just, uh, thinking. I think that I should go… talk to my team. Yeah, my team needs me. I mean, just look at Adolpha over there, she really needs some help.”

Adolpha was laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

“What is life?” Adolpha asked softly.

“Probably just a trial that we have to go through, but it’s what you make of it, so calm down!” Lavey said with a grin.

“I can’t believe you’re team leader.”

“You know, I’m starting to get a little offended here,” Lavey said, her arms crossed against her chest with a small glare on her face.

“Good! You shouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of anything!” Adolpha snapped, finally coming out of her shock slightly.

“Lavey’s a great leader,” Crystal said, glaring down at Adolpha, who rolled over to look up at her.

“You’re just saying that because she got you all of those damn favors!” Adolpha said incredulously.

“No, I’m saying it because she was smart enough to plan out all of her steps thoroughly and then execute them to perfection,” Crystal said with a glare, crossing her arms against her chest.

“Yeah, mercilessly,” Adolpha said with a small sigh, shaking her head in frustration.

“Sometimes the job requires you to be merciless! I mean we’re literally killing shit, Dolph!” Crystal snapped, throwing her hands up in frustration.

“But not your siblings!” Adolpha cried.

“It ended up great for you guys!” Crystal snapped.

“Guys, just calm down, let’s go to our dorm room and absolutely _trash it_!” Lavey cried. “Party in team LAAC’s room tonight!” she shouted.

“She’s kidding,” Adolpha said quickly, eyes wide.

“Nope! Not kidding!” Lavey cried.

“You can’t just have a party in our dorm!” Adolpha cried, chasing after her in frustration.

“I’m sorry, are you the team leader now? I think that I missed that memo considering **I’m** the team leader!” Lavey said with a smug smirk.

Adolpha glared at her darkly.

“I’m still your older sister, and our mothers said for me to take care of you, so of course you need to listen to me.”  
  


“I don’t have to take jack shit from you, not just because family expectations are all crap and us of all people should know this. Second of all, I’m the team leader, so for your grade you need to listen to whatever shit I say. So if I say that I want to have a party in our dorm room, we’re going to have a party in our damn room. Now come on my little faunus child, we are off to rule the world! I mean, until we get bored of it and then decide to set it on **fire**!”

“Hey, I like fire, mind if I join you?” Mavros said with a small smirk, leaning back against the wall with their arms crossed against their.

“Oh definitely! But not right now, because we’re busy, so go, I dunno, shut down right now like some… I dunno, robot or something?”

Lavey waved her hand dismissively.

“See you later!”

Mavros rolled their eyes and watched Lavey drag Adolpha down the hallway, Auburn and Crystal following after the pair.

Crystal was dragging her brother behind her, him not seeming to really care.

Mavros could tell that Lavey was chomping at the bit to get out of the room, and they were quite sure that it had something to do with the fact that Ilesha is watching her go.

There is obviously something going on, and Mavros is going to have _so much fun_ exploiting that fact.

-

“We’re not doing this.”

“Bitch if you think that you’re going to stop me, then you have another thing coming, so try me.”

Adolpha stared at her sister for a long moment, wondering if she could take Lavey in a fight.

Past experiences, common sense, and the dangerous glint in her younger sister’s eyes were all signs that she could **not**.

“This is so dust damn dangerous.”

“So is life, so is studying at Beacon, so is being a Huntress, and so is crossing me, and you’re already doing all but one of those. Do you really want to raise the odds of you dying?”

Adolpha hesitated before she sighed in frustration, shaking her head.

“Fine. Fine! But I’m not taking a bottom bunk.”

Lavey smirked.

“Great! Then it’ll be perfect for you to share with Auburn, because you know that he hates heights.”

Adolpha’s face paled.

“Can’t I share with Crystal?”

“No dust damn way,” Crystal said, crossing her arms against her chest.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m sharing with Lavey, and she’s taking the top bunk.”

Adolpha glared at them before she glanced at the beds.

“Okay, if we’re going to do this, we should be doing it in the most safe way that’s possible. It would be best if we found something to prop the bed up with-”

“Let’s just wing it!” Lavey cried, grabbing her sister’s hand and dragging her toward the beds.

Five minutes later, team LAAC had two bunk beds (both of which were hanging precariously from the ceiling and swinging back and forth), a very smug Lavey, an exasperated but fond Crystal, a very proud Auburn, and a panicking Adolpha.

This was going to be a long year.

And there was going to be another three years after that.

So four dust damn long years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lavey: I'm going to climb you like a beanstalk.  
> Mavros: Bitch I'm the giant.  
> (Frost_Milk)


	15. Team IMCA

Ilesha turned from Lavey’s retreating figure with a small smirk on her face.

Something had changed about her childhood friend, something that she didn’t quite know yet, but she thought it was pretty… awesome. She didn’t know how else to describe it, but that word probably didn’t encompass exactly what she felt.

She turned around and walked back to the dorm room, her steps almost a skip as she had a wide grin on her face.

Mavros glanced down at his partner and frowned in confusion, wondering why she was skipping down a hallway filled with people.

Ilesha’s Aura alerted her that she was being watched, so she turned to face Mavros, giving him an innocent smile.

“What?” Ilesha asked, tilting her head to the side slightly and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Nothing, just…,’ Mavros shook his head with a small laugh, turning back to look ahead of him. 

Ilesha shook her head, not seeming to care.

-

“Okay, we need to decorate!” Ilesha said excitedly.

She looked around the room for a long moment in consideration before she reached toward her bags.

  
“I have a little bit of paint-”

“Don’t worry, Illy!” Cooper said. “I have everything we need!”

He darted over to join his friends after rifling through the bags.

He showed his friends a few materials.

The first thing he showed was the poster he had. It was a very classic one, which showed a cat that was hanging from the tree. Underneath, it said “hang in there!”

“I really like this poster. Lavey says that the cat isn’t going to make it until Friday, but I think the kitty’s going to be just fine!”  
  


Mavros raised an eyebrow, their arms crossed against their chest as they watched him.

Cooper hesitated.

“Do you not like it? I-I can take it down, or put it up in my backpack if you want. O-or if you don’t like it that much, I can just burn it inst-”

“Coop,” Akio said, stopping his cousin from his typical rambling session, “we like the poster. You can put it up, right?”

He stared at their teammates pointedly.

Ilesha was staring at the poster with a perplexing expression.

“Awww, it’s so _cute_!” she cooed. “Of course you can put it up!”

They all looked to Mavros, who finally sighed.

“It’s _our_ dorm room, just put it somewhere on your one fourth of the wall.”

“But I don’t want to make you unhappy. Do you like it or not?” Cooper persisted.

“Don’t see if it matters if it’s in your fourth of the room.”

“Of course it matters,” Cooper said with a small frown, as if he couldn’t understand why Mavros would say such a thing, “I want you to be happy. You’re my teammate, so you need to feel comfortable in our dorm room. So do you like Mr. Fluffles or not?”

Mavros looked between him and the poster.

“I like the cat, man. Put him up where the heck you want. Go Mr. Fluffles.”

Cooper **beamed** and all but skipped over to the wall, getting some tape out of his bag. It was colorful tape that had pictures of chibi dogs on it, which he smiled at.

“It looks so _cute_ ,” he said quietly to himself.

Once he had put the poster up, he skipped over to grab more materials.

He had more posters, paint, and paint brushes.

“Room makeover!”

He was about to start, but Ilesha caught his wrist.

“Wait,” she said seriously. “You can’t do this.”

Cooper looked down sadly and started to nod.

“At least, not without this.”

Ilesha reached into her pocket and pulled out of her scroll, starting a song.

YMCA.

“It’s fun to say at the I-M-C-A,” she sang. Her voice was beautiful as she let go of his hand, starting to spin in a circle.

“YOUNG MAN!” Mavros bellowed on beat, humming afterwards.

The two started to dance more, and Ilesha reached out, grabbing Cooper’s hands and starting to dance together. She led the dance quickly, spinning him and then dipping him.

“It’s fun to stay in the I-M-C-A dorm room!” she sang,

Akio was humming and topping his foot to the beat with a small smile on his face, and none of his teammates could tell just how well he sang.

Cooper started to sing, but he was horrifically off key, and he couldn’t hold a note to save his life, but he didn’t seem to care.

Neither did his teammates, and Ilesha just giggled, joining in on it.

Mavros watched the two dancing for a long moment before the barest of smiles pulled against their lips.

Ilesha giggled as Cooper missed a step, her having to barely stop him from hitting the ground.

_Oh my dust,_ Mavros thought, _they’re so precious. They must be protected from this world, and this is my purpose in this life._

“Come on, Mav, you need to dance!” Ilesha said with a small grin.

An hour later, they had a door that was painted with pink flowers, a wall covered in posters and contrasting paint colors, and a very excited team.

Mavros thought that was enough.


	16. Paint War

Akio looked up as he heard the dorm room door open.

Jin started to walk out of the dorm room, only to pause with wide eyes.

Akio was currently crouched down on the ground, his hand frozen in mid paint stroke, eyes wide like a deer that was caught in the headlights. He had pink paint smeared on his hands and he slowly blinked.

Mavros was holding up Cooper so that the short boy could reach the top of the door so that he could add some pink flowers to it. He was holding him with his hands on his hips. Cooper was humming to the loud music, still YMCA, though they were saying their team name, IMCA, instead of it.

Ilesha was still singing it quite loudly to herself, reaching up onto the tips of her toes so that she could reach the tops of the door.

“You never speak of this to our siblings. Ever.”

Jin stared at Akio, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Hey, Jin-Jin!” Ilesha said, waving at her happily and almost dropping her paintbrush as she did so. She caught it a moment before she could, splashing a bit of paint on herself.

  
“You are never telling our siblings,” Akio reiterated.

“Because it won’t be necessary, pinky pie,” Lavey said, poking her head into the hallway. Their dorm room was down the hall from team JARR, not as close as IMCA’s, but still close enough in comparison to some others.

“Shit,” Akio muttered, shaking his head and standing up, hurrying into the dorm room to avoid Lavey.

Lavey was going to chase him, but was distracted.

“Hey, Lav!” Ilesha said, waving her hand. The movement of her hand caused paint to be splashed onto her face, and she giggled. “Guess I’m almost as clumsy as Auburn.  
  


Lavey was staring at Ilesha. She had a bunch of pink paint splattered on herself, covering her hands, her face, and most of her clothing, and a bit had even gotten into her hair.

“How?” she breathed.

Ilesha frowned in confusion, glancing at Lavey and trying to figure out what the older girl was staring at.

Lavey flushed when she realized she had spoken out loud, and she forced herself to continue.

“H-how did you get paint in your hair?"  
  


“Oh, I did, didn’t I?” Ilesha giggled. “I didn’t even realize.”

She brought her hand up to her hair to touch it slightly. It smeared more paint, and Lavey laughed quietly, as if in disbelief.

“What?” Ilesha asked, stepping closer.

“You smeared it,” Lavey said, forcing an eye roll that she didn’t feel.

Ilesha moved closer and frowned.

“I did?” she asked.

Lavey nodded, her heart hammering in her chest.

“Where?”

Lavey didn’t think she could speak, considering Ilesha was less than a foot away from her, so she just pointed numbly.

Ilesha looked up at her hair, which was now hanging a bit in her face.

“Where?” she asked, leaning closer.

Lavey’s hand grazed against her hair, and she was so distracted by their close proximity that she didn’t notice that Ilesha raising her hand and slapping it against Lavey’s face.

Lavey gasped with wide eyes as paint dripped down her face.

“You’ve got a little something there,” Ilesha said, gesturing vaguely at Lavey.

Lavey, for just a moment, was thankful that there was paint covering her face so that Ilesha couldn’t see the fiery blush that had taken over her face, which she still couldn’t understand.

She suddenly felt her brain restart, and her face turned even redder, though she glared at the younger girl.

“You little jerk!” she snapped, reaching down and grabbing a can of paint. She slammed her hand into it and then tugged it out, sending splashes out out Ilesha.

Ilesha giggled and held her hands up to protect herself, but the paint never hit her.

Mavros had stepped in front of her and protected her completely from the platter, and he was now covered in paint.

“Ya big behemoth!” Lavey cried. “Did the gods use all of the material to make you on your height and leave nothing for the brains! That was supposed to hit Ilesha, now get your big ass out of the way!”

“Of course I got in the way because you were trying to hit her. Nobody hurts my teammates,” they said, arms crossed.

Lavey groaned and was about to say something, but Mavros continued.

“And besides, at least I’m not throwable.”

“Being throwable can be good for some situations, Mav,” Lavey said with a wink and a smirk.

A moment later, Crystal came out of the dorm room.

“Cy!” Lavey snapped, not turning. “I need a lift.”

Crystal rolled her eyes and created a glyph, which launched her sister into the air, soaring over Mavros, and she tackled Ilesha.

The two slammed against the ground, Lavey on top of Ilesha, and she started to call out that it was an all out paint war.

Before she had the chance to, Ilesha let out a giggle.

She reached her hands up and planted them on Lavey’s hips before she lifted her into the air.

“That’s quite the position you put yourself in, Lav,” she said, smirking.

Suddenly, Ilesha rolled over and planted herself in the same position that Lavey had been in a moment before, staring down at Lavey with a grin. A bit of her dirty blond hair hung in her face, and when Ilesha laughed, it bounced back and hit Lavey against her nose.

Lavey absolutely **froze**.

Ilesha giggled.

“But it looks like, for once, someone else has the upperhand.”

Lavey didn’t think she could breathe, but that was a distant thought as she looked up at her childhood friend.

_My dust,_ Lavey thought to herself, _she’s so damn pretty. When did that happen? When she become… become_ **_this_ ** _instead of that annoying little kid? That-that really isn’t fair!_

Ilesha frowned in confusion.

“Uh… Lav, you alright?” she asked, leaning down a bit closer to stare at her in confusion.

Lavey flushed deeply, eyes going wide.

She panicked and shoved Ilesha off of her forcefully before she ran off.

She definitely wasn’t alright.


	17. Catching Up

_‘Least those little menaces are someone else’s problem now,’_ Neo signed.

“Yeah, our responsibility,” Ciel said with an eye roll.

_‘Yes, but I refuse to teach Romy and Romelle. They can be your problem,’_ Neo signed before she waved her hands dismissively.

“You’re teaching them, I’m not going to deal with your little monstrosities,” Coco said quickly.

_‘Then you don’t have to get paid.’_

“Neither do you, just go back to stealing stuff or something,” Coco said with an eye roll.

“Do not go back to stealing things,” Ciel said immediately, before Neo could respond to Coco.

_‘No need, Gorgeous. I already stole a heart, I don’t need anything else.’_

Ciel, despite having been married to Neo for many years, flushed and glared at her wife, smacking her on the arm.

_‘And some heist that was! Quickest one I ever did too!’_

Ciel smacked her arm.

Velvet rolled her eyes at her laughing wife, turning back to look at the other, perhaps more polite, company.

That idea was quickly dispelled.

Team RWBY was still screaming, and when they saw that Ciel was looking their way, they all turned to stare at her.

“Your children are going to drive ours _insane_!” Yang accosted, pointing at them angrily.

_‘Yeah, but only because your oldest wants to get in Romy’s pants, which is driving your little lesbian insane, so shut up and have a drink while we all think about the future.’_

Yang glared at her while Weiss and Ruby gasped. Blake just had a blank expression on her face, as if the idea of Adolpha wanting to do **anything** with Romy, much less what Neo had said.

_‘Besides, it’s not our fault that Lavey’s a little gremlin.’_

“Or that Adolpha’s a little control freak, that’s all Weiss’ fault,” Coco said with a small smirk.

Neo gave her a grin and a thankful look, glad that someone else was helping her insult her friends.

“Adolpha’s not a control freak!” Ruby snapped.

“And neither is Weiss,” Blake added, setting her hand on her wife’s shoulder gently.

“Instead of yelling at Neo and Ciel,” Velvet said, knowing that Coco wanted her to help and gave up on not supporting her wife, “you should be thanking team ATLSS.”

Team ATLSS was seated together in the back of the room next to RIN as if they were trying to appear small, like they were still not used to being in a group with the older parents or even the adults.

In a way, they still hadn’t completely grown up.

Natalie wasn’t wearing her old leather jacket, but instead a nice brown one that Ivy had given to her a couple of years ago on their anniversary. Rachel had gotten some new clothes, but she still sort of looked like a bumblebee, which is something that Natalie constantly made fun of. Ivy looked pretty much the exact same, if just a bit older.

Ivy was laying on Alea’s shoulder with a small, distant smile on her face, and Alea had a puppy grin on as she looked down at her best friend. Most of team ATLSS looked pretty much the same, and they were seated beside Alea.

“What do you mean thank us?” Alea asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head slightly to the side in her confusion.

“Your daughter is making Lavey act like an actual human being instead of a gremlin,” Coco said with a wave of the hand.

“What?” Alea asked.

Stacey was smirking.

“Yes, she did, because our daughter is the best child that has ever gone to this Dust-damned school,” Stacey said.

“That’s what she used to say about me,” Alea said quietly to Ivy.

“And that’s what you said about me,” Ivy replied, reaching one hand up to play with Alea’s hair.

“Still what I say about you,” Alea said gently.

“How are they more married than we are?” Rachel muttered, her arms crossed against her chest as she rolled her eyes.

“Because they’re secretly married,” Natalie said with a small, fond smile on her face as she watched the pair.

Ivy waved her hand to silence them, and Alea suddenly frowned.

“Wait, how does Ilesha make Lavey human? She’s always been human, she’s not one of the Faunus,” Alea hesitated, as if she was trying to remember something, “yeah, she’s not one of the Faunus.”

“You’ve known this child for her entire life, and you had to mentally figure out if she was one of the Faunus,” Syntheia said with an eye roll. Stacey snorted. “What’s wrong with you?”

“A lot,” Alea said without missing a beat, giving her wife a small grin and a wink, which caused Syntheia to flush just slightly.

“Still can't believe that she makes you flustered after all of these years,” Stacey muttered with a small eye roll, shaking her head.

“No she doesn’t,” Syntheia snapped, but she was blushing deeply.

“Can we go back to where you said that Ilesha was the best child in that school?” Winter asked. “Because that was so not true.”

“Coopy poo is the best child at that school,” Penny agreed, nodding her head.

“Okay, but he doesn’t count,” Terresa said with a scoff and a wave of the hand. “He’s like a literal angel.”

"Yeah. Like.... Alea has some competition," Lexey said playfully, giving her wife a playful nudge.

Penny had on a happy smile now, and she hummed as she leaned against her wife gently.

“Yeah, yeah, you and your school drama,” Nora said, waving her hand dismissively and almost hitting her husband, Jaune, in the face.

  
Nora didn’t seem to notice, nor did she seem to care.

“It’s your school, your drama, and our children!” Yang snapped.

  
“Jin is going to die,” Weiss whispered, Blake patting her on the shoulder gently, trying to calm her down some.

It didn’t work.

“Lavey is going to kill someone,” Ruby muttered.

Yang barely held back a snort.

“Lavey’s always going to kill someone, it’s not anything new,” Yang said.

“But it’s going to be our children! That’s new!” Ruby said.

“That’s fair,” Yang said with a shrug.

Suddenly, there was buzzing that echoed through the air, and everyone reached for their scrolls.

There was a long beat of silence.

“She didn’t listen to me,” Blake breathed. “She broke something within the first twenty-four hours.”

“HOW DID SHE BREAK THE VENTS!?”


	18. Setup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *happens right before the paint fight*

Jin stared at her teammates in shock.

“How in the name of Dust did you do this?!” she cried.

“I dunno,” Aella said with a shrug.

“I was only outside for, like, three minutes, and we _don’t have a dorm room_!” Jin cried.

“We have a dorm room,” Romy said.

“No we **don’t**!” Jin cried, gesturing around.

In the middle of the ceiling, there was a bed. Or, well, it wasn’t really a bed. It hung several feet up, though Jin had almost hit her head on it walking through. There was no frame or any comforter, just a large pile of blankets that were hanging from the ceiling like it was some deranged and mutated hammock. Aella had a smug look on her face as she looked up at it, as if she had come up with some sort of masterpiece. Jin wanted to tear it down, but she was worried that it might cause ceiling damage, so she held back for the moment. The comforter for Aella’s bed was thrown haphazardly into the corner of the room with the bedframe where Aella’s entire bed had been beforehand.

All of Jin’s stuffed animals had been thrown over there too, but Jin didn’t have time to worry about that.

A large blanket, one which hadn’t been in the room before Jin had left, was thrown up and hung from the ceiling and hid Romy and Romelle’s beds from the view of the rest of the room. The blanket acted as a sort of curtain, which was protecting the twins and their beds from view. Jin wondered distantly what they could possibly be hiding, but she guessed that wasn’t really the big issue.

“Why? Why did you do this?” Jin asked. “And how? Literally how?!”

“Uh… we just did?” Aella said with a shrug. She gestured toward a bed. “That one’s yours by the way.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Also, we took your stuffed animals and put them in a pile over there. We thought it could be, like, the calm down corner. You know, with the bed and the stuffed animals, if you get you or something, anyone can just go hang out there.”

Jin stared at her younger sister with a look of absolute shock.

“What is wrong with you guys?” Jin asked.

“A lot!” Romelle said, poking her head from the blanket.

“Guys, we really can’t let our dorm room look like this,” Jin said gently, trying to be calm and comforting to her teammates. What would Adolpha do? She’d try to mediate. That’s what she always does!

“Eh, it’s fine,” Romy said with a dismissive wave of her hand, not seeming to care nor mind what her teammates were saying as she and her sister worked behind the blankets.

“That’s not what I’m trying to say,” Jin said slowly, trying to figure out how Adolpha did this so much. How did Adolpha take charge? She was always so good at that, and she would be able to completely control these crazy people.

Jin wondered what she was doing right now…

-

“Lav, you’re not really going to do this, right?”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Adolpha, if I want to have a party in our dorm room, I’m going to have a party in our dorm room, because I’m the team leader, and you’re my teammate, so you’re going to listen to me.”

“I don’t have to listen to anything you say to me!” Adolpha snapped.

Lavey suddenly smirked.

“Okay, I won’t have a party, but know this,” Lavey stepped forward and grabbed Adolpha by the collar of her jacket and yanked her down until Adolpha was face level with her, eyes narrowed, “by the end of this semester, I’m going to have you listening to every single damn word that comes out of my mouth. When I say jump, you’ll say how high. When I say run, you say how fast. And when I say that we’re having a damn party at the end of the semester, you’re going to ask what color of fucking streamers am I going to buy for your party.”

With that, Lavey let go of Adolpha’s jacket and stalked out of the room.

Adolpha was left watching her go with a stunned look on her face, eyes wide.

-

Jin sighed.

She was probably already showing Lavey that she was the rightful team leader and taking charge. They’d probably decorated their dorm exactly how Adolpha wanted, and things were going great.

Meanwhile, she was struggling to control her rambunctious teammates.

  
Adolpha should have been the team leader, like always, because she was just… better at this than Jin was.

She was better than her at most things, had been for as long as they had been alive, and Jin was just along for the ride, happy just to look up to her older sister and wish she could be just a bit more like her.

But now, without her… Jin felt lost and confused.

And useless, especially with her teammates not listening to a single word she was saying, scampering around the room like little gremlins.


	19. It Will

“You know that she’s never going to take orders from you, right?” Crystal asked, lounging back in her bed and looking at her scroll.

“Oh she will,” Lavey waved her hand dismissively. “From the moment I was declared team leader, it was destined. I have a twenty step plan to make her bow down to my every word.”

Crystal glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow.

“I have a Powerpoint.”

Crystal stared at her for a long moment.

“Show it to me.”

“The plan already started, but I’d be very happy to show it to you!”

-

Adolpha was stalking down the hallway in frustration, shaking her head.

She wasn’t going to listen to  _ anything _ that Lavey had to say. Just because she was good at predicting things and manipulating people didn’t mean that she had  _ anything _ on Adolpha.

Lavey had just come back to the dorm room after having gone outside to check on team IMCA, and she had come back with paint all over her face and a deep blush. She’d cleaned up before coming back out and telling Adolpha that she wanted lunch, and that the wolf Faunus had to go get it.

Adolpha had stormed out of the room and announced, loudly, that she was  _ not _ getting her lunch and that she’d  **never** get it.

She guessed that walking out of the room might have been a bit dramatic, so she came back into the dorm a few minutes later, ready to ignore the entire fiasco.

Crystal was sitting down by Lavey’s bed, looking down worriedly.

“What’s going on?” Adolpha asked.

“Lavey isn’t feeling good. Said she’s cold and sick,” Crystal said with concern in her voice.

“She is?” Adolpha asked nervously, stepping forward and putting her hand on Lavey’s forehead, trying to feel her temperature. “Oh my Dust! She’s freezing!”

“Yeah, I’m really worried about her,” Crystal said, pulling closer to her sister.

“I’m fine,” Lavey said, coughing weakly and trying to sit up. She failed, and Crystal gently pushed her back down.

“I-I’ll go get her some soup…,” Adolpha hurried out of the dorm room and went to get food, coming back a few minutes later.

“Here you go,” she said gently, handing her the soup.

Lavey sat up and suddenly  **beamed** .

“Thanks for the lunch, Dolpha!” she said.

Adolpha froze as Lavey stole the soup and started to eat it.

  
Crystal snickered and rolled her eyes.

“You’re so dramatic, Lav.”

“Thank you! It’s the acting practices Aub has us do,” Lavey said with a snicker.

Adolpha frowned in confusion.

“What? Are you alright, Lavey?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes, especially after you got me some lunch!”

Adolpha stared at her for a long moment of silence before she figured out what she was saying.

“Did… did you just trick me into getting you food?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a jackass move.”

“Thank you.”

“What kind of weird power trip is this?!” Adolpha snapped, arms crossed.

“An effective one that let me teach you that I can make plans.”

“That’s stupid as Dust!” Adolpha cried, throwing her arms up into the air.

“And yet, it ended up with me getting food.”

“Because you tricked me, asshole!”

“Exactly!”

Adolpha struggled to speak, but she couldn’t find any response, so she just left the dorm room again in a blind rage.

“That didn’t work,” Crystal said.

Lavey smirked.

“It will.”


	20. Pavlov's Adolpha

“Hey, what do you want to get us for breakfast, Adolpha?” Lavey asked.

Adolpha was about to snap at Lavey for forcing **her** to get the food, but she was surprised that Lavey was asking her what she wanted to get.

“Uh… I’ll get us some pancakes, I guess,” Adolpha said.

Adolpha went to get the food and came back a moment later to set it down in front of her teammates.

Lavey smirked to herself and took a bite, not looking up at her teammates except to lock eyes with an exceedingly shocked Crystal.

-

“Hey, thanks for helping Auburn with his homework,” Lavey said to her sister.

Adolpha glanced up.

“It’s nothing special, I do it all the time,” Adolpha said dismissively, still clearly angry at her sister.

“Hey, you helped him, thank you for doing this,” Lavey said, setting her hand on Adolpha’s shoulder.

Adolpha found a small smile growing across her lips as she glanced at her sister shyly.

“No problem, Lavey,” she said, turning away with a small smile on her face.

Lavey smirked and turned away from Adolpha.

-

“Team LAAC,” Professor Coco called loudly. “What’s the weakest point of a Grimm?”

Adolpha opened her mouth to speak, but Lavey turned to her.

“What do you want me to answer?”

“What Aunt Coco says all the time,” Adolpha said with an eye roll.

Lavey smirked.

“The crotch, ma’am!” Lavey called, giving Adolpha a small smirk.

-

“Good job taking care of Auburn back there,” Lavey said, reaching up to pat Adolpha on the shoulder comfortingly.

Adolpha jumped at the action, looking down at her sister with a small frown.

“Just because you’re team leader doesn’t mean you have to act like one. You haven’t been, so don’t start now,” Adolpha said, crossing her arms.

“What, I can’t compliment you?” Lavey asked, eyes narrowing. “Besides, I **am** the team leader, and as long as I’m in charge, I’m going to say when you’re doing awesome,” Lavey suddenly smirked, “and when you’re doing stupid as heck.”

With that, Lavey jogged off, but Adolpha was still slightly smiling.

She forced the smile off of her lips.

-

“I think they’re a spider in that dorm room,” Lavey said with her arms crossed against her chest. “There’s a spider in that damn dorm room, so go kill it!”

Adolpha frowned slightly, glancing into the dorm room.

“There’s not a spider in there.”

“How do you know?! There’s so many damn places that the spider could hide in!” Lavey said.

“Maybe you all should have cleaned,” Adolpha said, arms crossed against her chest.

“Well you can get some of it done looking for the spider.”

“Why can’t Crystal do it?”

“Because Auburn and Crystal are hanging out in IMCA’s dorm room,” Lavey waved her hand dismissively, and Adolpha considered for a moment.

It was stupid that she had to clean the dorm room…

But… on the other hand, she got to make fun of Lavey for being scared of a spider.

It was worth it.

Lavey smirked in triumph as she watched Adolpha clean the dorm room, making fun of Lavey, but getting the job done.

“Thanks for cleaning the room.”

“I didn’t find a spider.”

“Well at least it’s clean. Thanks for checking!”

With that, Lavey darted off.

Adolpha watched her go with wide eyes, frowning after a moment.

How and where had she been to see a spider?

-

  
“Hey, don’t go to team JARR’s room, we need to do a team night,” Lavey said. There was a small smirk on her face as she took a seat on the couch, watching Adolpha with her gaze.

Auburn and Crystal were already coming to join her on the couch, but Adolpha crossed her arms against her chest.

Adolpha had been at the door, indeed about to go to team JARR’s dorm room for a moment to speak to Jin, and perhaps the twins, but now she froze.

For a moment, she considered doing as Lavey had said before she realized that she had been thinking about listening to something **Lavey** of all people had said, so she shook her head and reached toward the door.

“I’m just going to talk to Akio for a minute, be right back.”

Lavey’s smirk grew.

Adolpha walked into JARR’s room and was immediately met with Romy, grinning up at her with a light of mischief in her eyes.

“Thanks for coming, I need to borrow you for a sec!”

With that, Romy grabbed her by the waist, causing Adolpha to flush deeply, and she was tugged in front of Romy.

Before Adolpha could say anything, she was hit in the face by a pillow.

“Sorry, Dolph!” Aella cried, though her tone didn’t seem to match the meaning of her words, so she didn’t seem to care that she had hit her sister on accident.

Romy grabbed Adolpha and started to spin her in a circle to block a blow from her sister.

Adolpha tugged herself out of Romy’s grasp, still blushing deeply, and raced out of the room, her heart pounding in her chest.

She hurried back to the dorm room and back to her own, slamming the door closed and leaning against it.

Lavey barely stopped herself from laughing as Adolpha meekly took a seat beside her on the couch.

“Shoulda listened,” Lavey whispered.

Adolpha’s eyes widened and shot to her sister as she blushed a deep shade of red.

-

“Wait…,” Adolpha’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Did I just win?!”

Lavey smirked.

“Good job! First time for everything, Champ!” she stood up, leaving Adolpha and the large pile of board game materials on the ground. Auburn and Crystal followed her.

“What, am I just supposed to clean all of this up myself?” Adolpha asked sarcastically.

“Uh… yeah, you won.”

_/_

_“Alright!” Lavey shuffled the cards. “Winner picks up!”_

_Adolpha rolled her eyes._

_Lavey was going to win, she always did, so it didn’t really matter._

_/_

Adolpha watched Lavey leave with an expression of complete disbelief.

Had this all been a set up?!

Lavey just sent her a wink and a smirk before she hopped onto her bed and pulled out her scroll.

-

“Hey, Dolph, grab us some breakfast,” Lavey said, not looking up. “Pancakes, please.”

Adolpha stood and walked over to get food, bringing it back to the team.

“Thanks, Dolpha!” Lavey said, smirking just slightly.

Auburn and Crystal were openly gaping at their sisters, and Adolpha’s eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.

How had…

How had Lavey gotten her to…

Adolpha didn’t know what Lavey had done, nor how, but she’d tricked her into going to get the four of them food.

Adolpha needed to watch her closer.

Lavey was tricky like that...


	21. Listen to Me

“I think that might be a bad decision, beautiful,” Ciel whispered.

_ ‘I disagree. I think that this is a  _ **_wonderful_ ** _ decision, Gorgeous,”  _ Neo signed with an excited grin on her face.

Ciel rolled her eyes sufferingly and tried to say no to her wife, but even after this entire time, she still had trouble saying no to her wife, so she just sighed, shaking her head.

“Fine. Fine! But if someone dies or something breaks, you have to deal with it,” Ciel said with an eye roll.

_ ‘Can do, Gorgeous!’ _

Neo fake saluted her with a small grin before she raced off to watch the fight.

Ciel rolled her eyes, but there was a fond light to her eyes as she watched her wife.

Team LAAC was on one side of the room, PRRL on the other.

Lavey was holding a small bo staff in one hand. It had a circumference of about two inches, and Lavey twirled it idly between her fingers, looking slightly bored at the action and at the idea of fighting. It was about two feet long, but when she clicked a small button on the side, it extended until it was about two feet taller than her.

Adolpha was holding her weapons, one in each of her hands, both of which were red hook swords that she held in tight grasps.

While both Auburn and Crystal were standing slightly behind their team leader, though Adolpha was standing right beside her.

Crystal was holding her rapier in one hand, holding dust into it with her other while preparing to join the fight with her siblings, glancing up at Lavey to see if she was giving any hints at their plan.

Crystal then glanced at her brother, who had his harpoon in one hand, grinning brightly. Auburn glanced at Lavey and raised an eyebrow, wondering what their team leader could be thinking. It was always difficult to tell what Lavey was thinking of, and Adolpha wondered sometimes if she ever did.

“Aub,” Lavey called. “Connect You, Adolpha, and I.”

“What about Crystal?” Adolpha asked, frowning in confusion.

“Did I say to connect her?” Lavey snapped. “No, so don’t connect her.”

Adolpha frowned and was about to argue, but Auburn had already reached out and connected both Adolpha and Lavey.

“Thanks, Aub,” Lavey said with a small smirk before she raised her weapon threateningly in front of her.

“Lavey, she could really use our Semblances in this fight,” Adolpha whispered.

“Tough shit then, cause she’s not connected!” Lavey snapped.

Adolpha’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but Crystal rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

“Dolph, Lavey said that she doesn’t want me connected, so I’m not going to be connected. You’re not our damn team leader, so stop acting like it and just follow orders!” Crystal snapped.

She rolled her eyes again and Adolpha felt a bit of disbelief rise up in her.

She’d heard Crystal say a lot of things like that to a lot of people, but she typically didn’t to Adolpha, so it was a real shocker to hear them directed at her.

She looked to Auburn, who gave her a small smile and a shrug.

“Lavey’s the team leader, and she’s pretty good at it. Maybe you should just try listening to her for once. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out great!” Auburn said.

Adolpha stared at him incredulously.

“What’s going to happen, is that Crystal’s going to get her damn Aura broken!”

“I can take care of myself,” Crystal said, glaring with her arms crossed against her chest.

“Of course you can, Cy, but this is a serious spar, and we want our best chance at winning, so-”

“So you should listen to me because I’m the team leader,” Lavey snapped.

Adolpha was about to continue, but Neo started the fight by ringing a bell, and Adolpha was forced to dart to the side to avoid an arrow shadow that appeared a few moments later.

Adolpha’s head snapped around, eyes narrowing.

She went to take off, but Lavey shook her head, her hand snapping out and grabbing her sister’s waist.

She pulled her back so that she stumbled backward.

“What?!” Adolpha snapped.

“Cy!” Lavey called. “Summoning!”

Crystal nodded, taking off and waving her rapier so that a summoning appeared, sending itself toward the nearest enemy, who had shot an arrow at Adolpha.

“Adolpha, sneak right.”

“Crystal could need me!” Adolpha hissed.

Lavey glared at her darkly.

“I’m taking care of Crystal, now sneak right!”

Adolpha growled, but she did as she was told and snuck past the other team on the right.

She was paying attention to Crystal mostly, so she didn’t notice the shouts that Lavey was giving.

“EXPLOSION, SIX O’CLOCK!” Lavey shouted.

Auburn paused, glancing down at his watch.

“Lav, it’s five o’clo-”

An explosion occurred directly behind Auburn.

Lavey cursed.

“I get what you meant now,” he muttered, and Lavey rolled her eyes.

“You’re so damn bad with Dolpha’s Semblance, you need to work on it.”

Crystal’s summoning was causing havoc, and it slammed against a few of the other students.

Crystal laughed, suddenly ducking down as Lavey called out for her to do so. She had been telling Crystal what she needed to do because of the futures that she could do what needed to be done. So why didn’t she just let Crystal be connected to the others?!   
  


“Dolph, don’t duck!” Lavey shouted.

Adolpha turned to face her with a confused look on her face.

Suddenly, the shadow of a fist, at about seventy-five percent likelihood, hitting her in the face appeared, and she ducked down instantly. As she did so, the fist flew over her head. Adolpha stumbled some as she ducked, which caused her to land directly in the path of a giant sword she had  **not** seen coming a moment before, considering she had been distracted by wondering what Lavey could possibly be planning.

Adolpha was struck in the head by the sword, and she scrambled backward, holding her head with one hand and raising her weapon with the other.

“Dive left!” Lavey shouted at Adolpha.

“LOOK OUT!” Crystal shouted.

Adolpha turned to look behind her, and she was hit by Crystal’s summoning full force.

She was sent flying back, hitting the wall.

Her Aura broke, and she slumped against the ground, groaning as she felt bruises form on her body. It  **hurt** .

She picked her head up slightly, and she heard Lavey cursing.

A few moments passed, Adolpha in a dazed haze, before the other members of her team came over to check on her.

She was the only one whose Aura had broken, and she realized that the rest of her teammates all were perfectly fine.

Lavey held her hand out, grabbing Adolpha by the wrist and tugged her to her feet.

“I told you not to duck, idiot!” Lavey snapped, glaring at her.

  
“I almost got punched!” Adolpha said.

“But if you hadn’t ducked, you wouldn’t have hit the sword! How Dust-damned hard is it for you to trust me, Dolph?!”

Adolpha flushed and glared down at her sister, hand tightening on her sword before she growled and turned away, stalking off down the hall and toward their dorm.

She didn’t know how to respond to Lavey, didn’t want to have to, so she just hurried off.

Behind her, Lavey shook her head sufferingly, looking over at Crystal with a shrug.

“Guess she’s just a bitch,” Lavey said


	22. Shmazer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilesha's weapon was helped be created by Rab! Rab has been helping on discord a lot lately with all of these weapons, but the shmazer deserves. Picture of shmazer on discord.

The room had fallen silent, and everyone was staring at Ilesha in absolute **shock**.

The younger girl was standing in front of her fallen opponent, who was still groaning in pain, holding her face tightly.

Ilesha was giggling now, shaking her head at the silliness of the situation.

Lavey and Crystal were both gaping at her wider than the rest of their students.

“Shmazer!” Ilesha said, holding her weapon high in the air, as if it was worthy of being looked up on and then worshipped.

-

“Alright! Who wants to have a friendly weapons spar?” Ruby asked excitedly, looking around the room with a glint to her eyes.

Jin raised her hand immediately.

She was still annoyed with her teammates and their antics, so it would be a good thing for her to get her anger out.

“Ms. Belladonna-Schnee,” Ruby looked at all of her daughters, “uh, I mean, the one in the third row. And Ms. Ajax! The one in the fourth row, I mean!”

Jin glanced behind her, and she was met with a **beaming** smile from Ilesha, who waved down at her.

“Guess it’s me and you, Jin!” she hissed, pushing herself to her feet and walking to the front of the class with a slight skip to her step.

Jin raised an eyebrow and walked down to join her with a slow purposeful step. She wasn’t sure why Ilesha was so excited, considering she looked like a willow tree. She was tall, yes, but she was also a small slip of a girl that looked like the wind could blow her over at any given minute.

Jin guessed that was alright, considering she just wanted an excuse to beat someone up with her weapon. She was having a bad day. Her little gremlins were being crazier than normal, which was really saying something now.

“Are you two ready?” Ruby asked gently.

Ilesha **beamed** and nodded, taking her spot across from Jin and getting into a ready position.

Jin felt a bit unnerved, but she nodded as well and hoisted her hammer in front of her. Her hammer was a behemoth of a weapon, which towered an entire foot over Jin.

“Psst,” Ruby hissed, “Ilesha, your weapon.”

“Right!” Ilesha said, reaching one hand down and pulling her jacket out of the way. She reached down and grabbed… something.

She unhooked it from her belt, where it had been attached via key chain. She hefted it up and down in her hands. It was a turquoise color, and it looked almost like… a Wii remote? That was weird.

“Ready, set… go!”

Ilesha let out a laugh and pulled her weapon to her face.

Jin hesitated for a moment, frowning in confusion.

A moment later, a scope popped out of Ilesha’s weapon, and she giggled, centering the gaze on Jin.

Jin shook her head and raced forward toward the other girl, her hammer raised over her shoulders.

Ilesha chuckled again before she hit the button on the side.

Suddenly, a knife appeared at the top of the Wii-mote, and Jin almost stopped running in confusion.

What?

Ilesha then pressed another button, and the knife was flying straight at Jin.

Jin was so shocked that all she could do was stand there as the knife sunk into her clothing.

It didn’t hurt, and it took so little Aura that she barely even noticed it due to her Semblance.

She was about to continue running, but Ilesha raised her hand and pressed another button.

“Donk!” she said happily.

Suddenly, the weapon lit up with electricity, the wires connecting the knife to Ilesha’s weapon becoming more akin to a taser.

Jin hadn’t realized that there were _wires_!

She reached her hand up to yank the knife out of her coat, but it was too late.

The electricity, powered by lightning Dust, struck her, and she was sent collapsing to the ground, writhing as the electricity shot through her.

She wasn’t sure how long it lasted, nor was she even sure where or who she was, but the shocking stopped, and she let out a sigh of relief, she rolled over onto her back, opening her eyes-

Only to see Ilesha standing over her with a smirk.

“Bye bye, Jinny!”

She pressed the side of her weapon, and suddenly something sprayed out of her weapon and directly into Jin’s eyes.

She screamed.

Jin clawed at her eyes as pain shot through them, and she curled up in a ball on the ground.

“Does it still count as winning if her Aura isn’t drained but she can’t fight anymore?” Ilesha asked with a confused look on her face.

Ruby was gaping with disbelief, but Penny was nodding. She clearly had the entire rule book memorized.

“What did you do to her?!” Ruby cried.

“I Maced her.”

“You **what**?!” Ruby shouted.

“I used Mace on her. It’s an integral part of the shmazer.”

“The what?!” Ruby shouted.

“My weapon!” Ilesha giggled happily and pulled her weapon up for everyone to see. “It’s a shank,” she showed the knife at the top, which she had pulled out of Jin’s jacket a moment ago, “mace,” she sprayed it experimentally, and the teachers flinched, “and a taser!”

Ruby was gaping for another moment before she dashed forward and checked on her daughter, helping her up to her feet.

“You alright?” Ruby whispered.

Jin groaned.

“Is that even allowed?” Aella asked with wide eyes, staring at her team leader.

“It’s… technically allowed as a weapon, though it’s never been done before in the history of the Huntsman and Huntress schools…,” Penny said slowly.

Ilesha grinned.

“Shmazer!”


	23. Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had some comments about Lavey being the WORST, so I had to explain her motivations. You guys, I need you to calm down about the characters, they're changing, and you might not get it right now, but it's going to get there, damnit, and you're going to like it by the end! So just go for the ride!

Lavey shook her head as she watched Adolpha.

Adolpha was having a rough go of it, and despite how much Lavey disliked that, she had to keep going.

Despite how it looked, she wasn’t doing this for fun. At least, not entirely. The main reason she was doing this was because Adolpha was too damn high strung.

Had been for years. She was high maintenance, always had to be in charge, and the worst damn control freak Lavey had ever met.

So yeah, she needed a bit of work, had to work through her issues. It was the classic oldest-sibling-syndrome that she was going through, and now she was struggling to get through the year without being the team leader.

She wasn’t in charge anymore, like she had been for her entire life. Adolpha had always had to be in control, and the only way that Lavey could wrench it from her grasp was what she was doing.

It wasn’t going quite how Lavey had planned (hey, even _she_ could make mistakes), but it was going!

Adolpha had done a few things that Lavey had said, but… it was difficult. She had tried tricking Adolpha into it using mind tricks that she had learned, but that hadn’t been enough, and it had kind of made Lavey feel dirty.

But Adolpha needed to accept Lavey was the team leader not just because Lavey needed the respect and it was literally part of her grade, but because…

Well, Adolpha needed to learn that it was okay just to be a teammate instead of a team leader.

Lavey was good at reading people, at analyzing them, and she could tell one very important thing about Adolpha.

Her oldest sister tied her self-worth to being the leader of the seven, of being able to lead them and protect them.

But there was more to Adolpha than that, Lavey knew it! She was just trying to rip away the harsh exterior that Adolpha was portraying so that she could become a better person.

Lavey… Lavey was bad at this sort of thing, so she was doing a bit of trial and error, but she was going to get there! Because when Lavey said she would get something done, she was going to fucking get it done.

Even if that meant she had to run Adolpha through the lines of character development for all four damn years.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jin: I'm not sitting next to Ilesha.  
> Lavey: Why?  
> Jin: SHE MAISED ME!  
> Ilesha: IT WAS ONE TIME!!!

“What the heck did you do back there?!” Akio hissed, eyes wide as he looked back at the classroom to see his sister still being led back to the nurse’s office, probably hoping that Jaune would be able to help Jin.

“I maised your sister,” Ilesha said with a shrug.

“How did we not know that that was your weapon?!” Akio hissed.

Ilesha smirked.

“I never told you.”

“Why not?! You’re our team leader!” Akio snapped.

Ilesha glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, and he glanced down at the… what was the weapon called? A shmazer? What the heck was that?!  
  


“Because I wanted it to be a surprise!”

“I thought that it was very impressive,” Cooper said with a grin. “Almost as awesome as weaponized glitter.”

“It wasn’t awesome,” Ilesha paused for a long moment, a smirk on her face. “It was maisenificent.”

Her teammates stared at her, and Ilesha started to laugh.

“Get it? Maise!” Ilesha cried, leaning over and resting on Cooper some to keep from falling over as they walked toward the IMCA dorm room.

Cooper was smiling up at his friend and team leader, helping her keep from falling over from laughing at her own joke while Mavros and Akio followed at a respectful distance.

Akio was watching her with a slight look of horror on his face, as if he was afraid that Ilesha was going to use her shmazer on him as well.

Ilesha glanced back at him and gave him a small smile, as if she was sure of what he was thinking and trying to reassure him. Or perhaps creep him out.

Akio legitimately couldn’t tell which she meant, but it was horrifying anyways.

“How did you even come up with that thing?!” Akio cried, racing after her.

Ilesha shrugged and started to recount the memory.

_/_

_“Now listen, Illy,” Stacey said gently. She was kneeled down in front of her oldest daughter, and she was holding out a can of maise. “You need to use this if anyone ever tries to take you from me or your other mommies.”_

_Ilesha frowned in confusion._

_“Someone would try to take me away from you?” she asked. Ilesha was only nine years old at the time, and she didn’t understand why anyone would try to take her from her parents. “That’s mean.”_

_“Yes, it is, and that’s why you use this. Now you see, all you have to do is hit this button and point this part at the person attacking you, and you can use it.”_

_“What does it do?” Ilesha asked with a small frown, pulling the weapon closer to her._

_“It sprays something painful at them. It’s called maised.”_

_“I love it!” Ilesha said excitedly. “I can’t wait to use it!”_

_“Wait, no-”_

_Ilesha raced out of the room with an excited glint to her eyes._

_“Nobody’s going to take me from my mommies now!” she cheered._

_She raced outside, finding the mailman bringing a package up to the steps._

_“Hello, little lady!” he said, leaning down slightly. “What’s that you got there?”_

_Ilesha’s eyes widened._

_“Stranger danger!” she shouted, reaching her arm up and pressing the button that Stacey had showed her._

_The mailman screamed in shock, stumbling backward as he clawed at his eyes._

_Ilesha raced up and kicked him in the crotch._

_“Stay down!” she shouted. “Nobody’s taking me from my mommies!”_

_With that, she raced back inside._

_“Mommy! Mommy!” Ilesha cried. “I did it!”_

_“Did what?” Stacey asked, frowning in confusion._

_“I maised him!”_

_“What?!”_

_Stacey raced to the front door, throwing it open and finding the mailman still curled up on the ground._

_“I did it!” Ilesha said proudly. She suddenly frowned, considering. “Well, it didn’t work super well. I mean, he went down, but then I didn’t really have anything else to do to him…”_

_Stacey wasn’t listening to her daughter, and she was trying to apologize to the mailman and help him up._

_Ilesha trailed off inside to find some tools._

_“It needs more kick… I know, I can add that prison weapon thingy that Mommy Terresa told me about!”_

_Ilesha skipped through the house and skidded to a stop when she reached the garage to find the tools._

_A few minutes later, she had put the tip of a knife on the maise._

_“It’s a shank now!” Ilesha said excitedly. “_ **_And_ ** _a maise! It’s a shmank!”_

_Ilesha was about to dash off and show her mother her weapon, but she skidded to a stop when she saw something else laying on the table._

_“What’s that?”_

_Stacey walked into the room while Ilesha grabbed something that laid on the table, fiddling with it._

_“Ilesha, you can’t just maise someone for no reason, it can be very dangerous and not to mention rude-”_

_Ilesha hit the button on the side of the weapon, and two sets of wires shot out of the object, hitting Stacey in the stomach._

_Stacey cried out and collapsed to the ground, writhing._

_Ilesha’s eyes widened and she dashed over to her mother, pulling the wires out of her mother and feeling a little jolt of current run through her, but it didn’t hurt, so she shrugged it off and helped her mother to her feet._

_Stacey stumbled back and leaned against the wall in pain, one hand holding her face as she groaned a bit._

_Ilesha dashed back over to the tape, grabbing the duct tape, which she then used to connect the maise to the taser._

_She spun around and triumphantly held her new invention in the air for all to see._

_Just then, all four of her other mothers raced in to check on Stacey after they had heard her scream._

_“What happened?” Lexey asked worriedly._

_“_ **_Your_ ** _daughter just tased me is what happened!” she snapped._

_“What?!” all four cried, going to look at Ilesha with incredulity._

_“What’s that?” Syntheia asked, pointing at the weapon._

_“It’s a_ **_shmazer_ ** _!”_

_/_

Her teammates all stared at her, and Ilesha just laughed and skipped back down the hallway.

Mavros stopped for a long moment.

He had fought a lot of things in his life, he had been through a lot of shit.

But this… this woman might have been the first one that had truly scared him in all of his time in this world.

Meanwhile, behind team IMCA, Crystal and Lavey had walked out of the classroom, and they were both watching Ilesha skip down the hallway with identical expressions.


	25. Real Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavey: Adolpha, we tried things your way, and they didn't work.  
> Adolpha: NO WE DIDN'T!  
> Lavey: Well, I tried them in my head, and they didn't work

“Okay, guys, I really need you to take this blanket curtain down,” Jin said.

“Yeah, no can do,” Romy said with a smirk and a shrug.

Jin cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

“As team leader, I need you to take down the blanket curtain right now,” Jin said.

Romelle and Romy laughed.

“But we all know that you’re not, like, a **real** team leader, right?” Romy asked.

Jin hesitated, her heart stopping.

“What?” she whispered quietly, though none of her teammates heard her as they continued to do whatever they were doing. “I-I’m a real team leader.”

-

Aella ducked behind the giant pink blanket that was covering the beds from view, and Jin looked up with a frown.

“What are you three doing back there?” she called out.

“Murder!” Aella cried.

“No!” Jin shouted.

Aella giggled from behind the blanket and Jin narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

She stood up from her bed and stalked over to the curtain blankets, reaching over to tear it back, only for the three little gremlins to dart out, Romelle running face first into Jin and tumbling backward.

“Son of a bitch!” Romelle snapped. “Jin, why are you in the way?! Move!”

Romelle scrambled to her feet and then took off after her teammates with a small glare in Jin’s direction before she slammed the door closed behind her.

-

Jin walked into the sparring room with a small smile on her face.

She had set up a sparring session earlier today, and she was **sure** that her teammates were going to come to this one!

It was going to be a great practice! She was going to get to show off her weapon for once, and maybe Romy and Romelle would be impressed by it and finally start to think of her as a real team leader! Maybe she could even fight Aella and knock some sense into her!

That was a **great** idea!

She looked up-

And there was nobody there.

She looked around desperately, hoping that maybe her little gremlins were hiding by the walls or in the corners, but there truly was nobody there.

She took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall.

Her eyes fell shut as she slid down to the ground and ran a hand through her hair, curling up some.

She sighed and shook her head.

She heard footsteps, but she didn’t bother to look up.

“Jin?” a familiar voice asked.

“Huh?” Jin jumped and looked up at Adolpha, and she forced herself to sit up.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Jin forced a smile.

“Yup! Yeah, I’m alright!” she said with a forced smile. She didn’t know if it looked convincing.

Adolpha smiled and nodded.

  
“That’s good!” Adolpha took a seat beside her younger sister, smiling at her just a bit.

“What’s up with you?” Jin asked, hoping to distract herself from the current situation.

Adolpha sighed sufferingly.

  
  


“ **So** much!” Adolpha said. “I’ve been trying to find you for a little while to vent.”

“Go ahe-”

“It’s about Lavey!” Adolpha cried, waving her hands in frustration. “She’s just so **infuriating**!”

“If you think you have it bad-”

“And she thinks that **she’s** the team leader! I mean, I get that she’s _technically_ a team leader, but she’s not, like, a _real_ team leader-”

Jin’s eyes widened, and her mind flashed back to Romy’s words. Unintentionally, her hand slammed against the ground between her and Adolpha, shocking her older sister.

“She’s a real team leader!” Jin snapped. “Just because you didn’t _want_ her to be your team leader doesn’t mean that she isn’t! She got this position, and she’s already trying her damn hardest to do it right! Just because she might not be doing great at it right now… or might not know how doesn’t mean that she can’t learn! She just… she just needs a little time to think and figure out how to be a team leader, and you’re only making her job _harder_ , and it’s already really difficult! Take it from me! You’re being… you’re being a **bitch** , Adolpha! I’m-I-I mean, _Lavey’s_ trying her best, and you’re just… you’re just making it impossible for me!”

Adolpha’s eyes widened, and Jin realized what she had done.

Adolpha had scrambled backward some, looking up at her sister with a slight look of shock and, perhaps, even fear.

“Adolpha, I-”

“I-I have…,” Adolpha stood and took a step backward, hitting the doorframe on her way, “I have to go…”

Jin watched Adolpha leave and let out a groan, slumping further and letting her face fall into her hands.

Why couldn’t she do _anything_ right? Not be a team leader, not be a good sister, not even hold a **conversation**!

She sighed and laid down on the ground, staring up at the ceiling as if hoping it would give her some sort of answers.

It didn’t.

-

“From them,” Coco gestured at Jin’s teammates, “I expected this from. But **you**?! I never expected this from you!”

Jin flinched and looked down at the ground as Coco began to berate her.

“You’re the team leader, and you let them do this?! You need to be a better team leader, a _real_ team leader. Why don’t you have them in line?! They’re **your** responsibility! Why don’t you have them in line?!”

“I-I swear that I’m trying, I’m really trying to get them-”

“Don’t just _try_ , Jin! You need to get them in line! It’s not that difficult! I have to say…,” Jin flinched, “I’m disappointed in you.”

_I am too,_ Jin thought.

-

Jin heard a knocking on the door, which woke her up.

She trudged over to the door, yawning as she opened it.

She was met with Glynda, Aella, Romy, and Romelle.

“I found these three,” Glynda gestured at Aella, Romy, and Romelle, “wandering the halls. Where were you?”

Jin’s eye twitched.

“I was asleep,” she all but growled.

Glynda stared at Jin with wide eyes, as if she could tell what was about to happen.

“I’ll… leave them to you, I suppose. I trust that you’re going to take care of them.”

“I will,” Jin said.

Jin held open the door farther, letting her teammates inside.

Jin walked back toward her bed, not looking at her teammates.

“Thanks for covering for us J-”

Aella was cut off by Jin, who turned around and crossed her arms against her chest, glaring down at all three of her teammates darkly. Her scales had appeared, and they glistened in the low light menacingly.

“What were you three idiots thinking?!” Jin snapped, eyes flashing.

“We-”

“Did I **say** that you could speak?!” Jin cried, throwing one arm up and cutting Romy off.

Romy gaped at her.

“You’re such pains in my ass! Do you know how much shit you’ve put me through?! You’re some of the worst teammates I’ve ever seen! You’re gremlins, you’re assholes, you’re bitches, you’re…,” Jin sighed for a long moment before she looked up. Now her eyes were filled with a type of tiredness that only came from weeks of failure, and her scales retreated, “I thought for forever that I was the wrong team leader for you three… but now I realize that it’s that you’re the wrong teammates for me.”

Jin stalked out of the dorm room without another word, and the three stared at each other with shock.

-

Jin knocked on the team LAAC dorm room, tears already streaming down her face.

“Who’s there?” Adolpha called.

“Jin,” she said quietly, her voice ladened with tears.

The door opened, and Adolpha’s eyes widened.

“Jin?! Oh my Dust, are you alright?!”

Jin shook her head wordlessly.

“Alright, come inside,” Adolpha shepherded her in, “What happened?”

Jin shook her head. She didn’t know if she could speak. Not because she was crying too hard, but because she just didn’t feel like it mattered anymore.

“Aub, Cy, go get her some food,” Lavey whispered before she walked over to her sister. “Hey, hey, who did this to you?”

Jin took a deep breath, shaking her head.

“Was it your teammates?” Adolpha asked.

Jin could only nod.

“I’ll be right back.”

-

Adolpha opened the team JARR dorm room and barged in, not bothering to knock. She could hear the dorm room slam closed behind her. Apparently Adolpha had opened it hard enough that it had slammed against the wall and then swung back closed.

“What the hell did you do to my sister?!”

Aella looked up, seeming defensive.

“Hey, she’s my sister too,” she said.

“Is she?! Cause you’re not fucking acting like it!”

Aella flinched.

“What’s wrong with you three?!” Adolpha shouted.

“A lot,” Romelle said with a sigh, running a hand through her hair sufferingly.

Adolpha glared at her.

“Is that all you came to say?” Aella asked sufferingly. “I know we messed up, alright?! I’m sorry! I didn’t… I didn’t think that she was that upset, alright?! I… we’re going to fix it, alright?”

Adolpha shook her head.

“I get that you’re mad but-”

“I’m not mad…,” Adolpha sighed and ran a hand through her hair, “I’m just disappointed.”

The door slammed open, rocking on its hinges.

“Well I’m mad **and** fucking disappointed!” Lavey all but howled. “Jin came to our dorm in _tears_! Do you know how many times I’ve seen that woman cry?!”

There was a beat of silence, as if the other members of team JARR were wondering if they should answer.

“Twice! You’re all monsters, and I hope you feel _horrible_!”

They all cowered before Lavey.

Adolpha hesitated for a moment.

“You know what?” she glanced at Lavey. “I agree with her. Do you know how little that happens?!”

Lavey sent her a smirk and nodded, crossing her arms.

“So how are you little assholes going to fix this?” Lavey asked.

-

Jin shook her head.

“No, Dolph, I’m… I’m not ready to go back.”

Adolpha gently led her through the hallway.

“Hey, it’s alright, it’s going to be alright, I promise.”

“I can’t. I _can’t_ do it, Adolpha! I never can! I’m just…,” Jin sighed, “I’m just not good enough, alright?”

Adolpha stopped Jin suddenly in the middle of the hallway, putting both of her hands on Jin’s shoulders as she looked up at her.

“Don’t say that,” Adolpha said. “ **Never** say that. You’re one of, if not the, best person I know, so you’re going to march in there and tell those little gremlins to listen to you, because _you’re_ their team leader!”

Jin sniffled and wiped at her eyes, smiling down at her older sister.

“Thanks, Adolpha,” she whispered gently.

Adolpha smiled fondly at her before she gently shoved her forward.

“Now get in there.”

Jin opened the door and stepped inside her dorm room, and her eyes widened in shock.

The blanket curtain had been taken down, revealing both of the twins’ beds to the world for the first time since the first day. Their homework was finished and laying on the table. The safety corner was cleaner now, and the others were looking at her from over there with guilty expressions.

“Hey, Jin, I’m… I’m really sorry. I’m your sister, and I should have realized that we were taking things too far. I hope that I can make it up to you.”

“Yeah, you really laid into us back there, and… you were right, we weren’t being good teammates,” Romy said.

  
“In fact, we were being, like, the world’s **worst** teammates. So… if it’s all the same to you, we’d really like to start over with you as our real team leader.”

Jin almost burst out crying, but she knew that she didn’t have time for this. She had to take advantage of their guilt to make a _real_ team.

“Really? No joke? You’ll listen to me? You’ll do what I say?” Jin asked skeptically, her arms crossed against her chest.

They all nodded, and Jin allowed a small smile to spread across her lips.

“I’d… I’d like that.”

-

The door opened, and Ilesha poked her head inside.

“Hey, you guys wanna join us for a movie night? Team LAAC’s coming!” Ilesha called.

Jin was surprised when she didn’t hear a response, and she looked up to find that all of her teammates were staring at her. She forced herself not to smile.

“Yeah. You three go ahead, I’ll meet you there,” Jin said.

Her teammates walked out of the room, and Jin grinned.

“Yes!” Jin cried in excitement, jumping up and down enthusiastically.

_I did it! I really did it! I’m the team leader! They listened to me!_

Jin **beamed** in enthusiasm.

She was finally going to be able to show them that she could be a _great_ team leader! And she couldn’t wait!


	26. Gay Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, for comedic relief, team IMCA and their singing!

The IMCA dorm room was finally finished. It had taken them a full week, but they’d finished all of their decorations. The room was covered in paint that accented the door with pink flowers, and there were countless posters that were hung up around the room. There were two sets of bunk beds, which were surprisingly well made. Ilesha and Mavros shared the first one, with Ilesha on top across from Akio, who had also decided that he had to regulate Cooper to the bottom.

The four were currently sitting on the floor and doing makeovers.

Cooper had makeup smeared over his face like whoever had put it on him (Ilesha) had just gone overboard. Ilesha looked quite impressive after Cooper had finished with her, considering he was quite good with makeup. Akio had tried to stay away from this makeover, but had finally conceded to letting Cooper do makeup on him after Mavros had glared at him darkly for a long moment. And last, but definitely not least, Mavros had gotten his makeup done by an overly excited Cooper, who had overdone it entirely.

“Oh, this has been so much  **fun** !” Ilesha cheered in excitement, bouncing to her feet. “Coop, you’re a  **great** makeup artist!”

Cooper grinned in excitement and laughed.

“Thanks, Illy! You look  _ really _ pretty!”

Mavros side eyed him with a small, raised eyebrow.

“Only because of your handiwork! Sorry I’m not that good…,” Ilesha gave her teammate a small, embarrassed smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I  **love** it!” Cooper said excitedly. Mavros and Akio looked at him. He looked like a circus clown.

“You know what we should do?” Ilesha asked, bounding over to the door.

“What?!” Cooper asked excitedly.

“Invite team LAAC!”

“Why team LAAC specifically?” Mavros asked with a small smirk.

Ilesha hesitated.

“Because they’re awesome?” Ilesha said, frowning a bit.

Mavros rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure.”

Ilesha grinned and skipped out of the room happily.

She reached team LAAC’s dorm room and knocked on it.

“Who the f-”

Lavey cut herself off as she opened the door, eyes widening when they landed on her childhood friend.

“Hey, Lav!” Ilesha said.

Lavey had frozen solid, and she was staring up at Ilesha with a mixture of disbelief and panic.

“Lavey?” Ilesha asked, leaning closer to Lavey and frowning.

Lavey’s pounding pulse pulled her from her own head, and she felt herself flush deeply.

“H-hey, Il,” she said.

“Lavey, who the heck is at the door?!” Crystal called.

Lavey didn’t respond, didn’t know if she could.

Ilesha was  _ stunning _ . Lavey didn’t know how to describe it, considering she didn’t know  **anything** about makeup, but all she knew was that… Ilesha looked…

“Hey, you little jerk, I asked who was,” Crystal pushed the door open further so that she could look at Ilesha, and her eyes popped, “at… the door…”

“Hey, Cy!” Ilesha said happily, waving at her.

Crystal just stared at her, and Lavey glanced at her sister. She didn’t have a word to describe the look her sister had, but she could tell that she  _ didn’t _ like seeing Crystal stare at Ilesha like that, so she cleared her thought.

“W-what did you need, Ilesha?”

  
“My team’s doing a makeover session, and I was wondering if yours wanted to join!”

Lavey nodded wordlessly, though she had hardly heard what her friend had said.

Lavey glanced at Crystal, who was starting to regain brain function, it seemed, because she stared at Lavey in disbelief.

“Uh, maybe we shouldn-”

“Great!” Ilesha said, grabbing onto both Lavey and Crystal’s hands before kicking the door open and looking at Auburn and Adolpha. “Come on, guys!”

With that, she raced down the hall, dragging the two sisters behind her.

Crystal and Lavey glanced at one another with wide eyes before the dorm room door was thrown open.

“We have more people to makeover!” Ilesha cheered.

  
“Ooh!” Cooper said, rolling over and grabbing materials.

Lavey pulled her hand out of Ilesha’s, and she tried to subtly wipe her hand against her pants. It had somehow become sweaty.

Crystal had snatched her hand out of Ilesha’s, glaring at the other girl as if she had done something to offend her, or even perhaps cast some sort of spell on her.

“Y-you can’t just grab someone’s hand like that, Ilesha!” Crystal hissed.

Ilesha turned, frowning in confusion.

“Why not?” Ilesha asked.

“B-because!”

Ilesha tilted her head just a bit to the side.

“I thought we were friends.”

Crystal frowned further, heat seeping into her face.

“We are, but… but still!”

Ilesha nodded.

“I won’t hold your hand if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Mavros was watching with a smirk in the background.

“T-that’s not what I’m…”

“Do you not want to hold my hand?” Ilesha asked.

“W-well, not  _ necessarily _ , I mean, but…,” Crystal trailed off.

Ilesha looked at her with a slightly sad look on her face, and Crystal felt like she’d kicked a puppy.

“But what?” Ilesha asked.

“J-just… just never mind.”

Ilesha stared at her for a moment, causing Crystal to squirm just a bit, and then smiled

“Alright then!” Ilesha said, turning around and hurrying over to her teammates.

Lavey suddenly felt like she could breathe again, so she turned over to face Mavros, a smirk growing across her face.

“Hey, love the makeup,” she said.

“Bitch, I look fabulous!” he said, doing a hair flip. “Also, Ilesha, why don’t you do Lavey’s makeover?”

Lavey shook her head, taking an unconscious step backwards. Her leg hit the bed, and she fell back onto it.

Ilesha  **beamed** .

“Oh, you want me to do your makeup?” Ilesha asked excitedly.

“No, I-”

Ilesha had already skipped over to the bed, and she plopped down in front of Lavey in between her legs.

“Now sit still!” Ilesha instructed, grabbing some eye shadow and moving closer.

Lavey gulped subconsciously, shifting backwards so that she was further away from the other girl. Her back hit the wall.

Ilesha giggled and rolled her eyes.

“I said sit still, silly!” she said, moving closer and planting herself further between her legs.

Crystal seemed to have forgotten her response to Ilesha earlier, and she was now quietly laughing at Lavey’s response to the younger girl.

“R-right, sorry,” Lavey said quietly, barely getting the words out.

Ilesha just rolled her eyes and giggled.

_ Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! _ Lavey thought, her breathing becoming ragged.

_ Kiss the girl! _ said a voice that was not her own inside of her head.

_ What?! No! I don’t want to kiss Ilesha! _

Mavros stared at Lavey across the room as if he could hear her voice.

He raised an eyebrow.

_ Don’t lie to me. _

Lavey flushed deeper.

_ I’m not! _

_ Just kiss her, I have a bet with Coop! _

_ No! _

“Sha-la-la-la-la-la,” Mavros sang under their breath quietly. “My, oh my, looks like the girl’s too shy!”

Lavey’s eyes shot to him, widening with shock as she deeply blushed.

“Ain’t gonna kiss the girl,” he continued to sing.

Ilesha  **beamed** at the song, and she began to sing along.

“ Ain't that sad? It's such a shame, too bad! You're gonna miss the girl,” Ilesha sang.

“Go on and kiss the girl!” Cooper joined in, singing horrifically offkey, like he typically did. Did team IMCA constantly sing together?!   
  


Ilesha leaned closer and stuck her tongue out of her mouth in concentration.

“Kiss the girl,” she sang gently, eyes darting to meet Lavey’s as she smirked.

Lavey’s mouth had gone dry, and she was staring at Ilesha with complete disbelief. Her face flooded with heat, and she didn’t know why. Ilesha reached one hand up and cradled Lavey’s face with her palm.

“Now's your moment,” Ilesha whisper-sang, as if to just Lavey.

“Floating in a blue lagoon!” Cooper sang, Akio joining in.

“Girl, you better do it soon,” Ilesha sang.

Lavey’s eyes darted down to Ilesha’s lips, and she licked her own subconsciously.

The song… the song was stupid.

And yet… 

Lavey felt herself leaning forward, her eyes having fallen shut.

  
Suddenly, before Lavey had the chance to do as the song had suggested, Ilesha pulled back and grinned.

Lavey’s eyes fluttered open, her face turning a dark shade of red as she realized what she had been about to do.

_ No way _ , she thought.

She didn’t notice Ilesha grinning at her and admiring her handiwork.

“You look  _ beautiful _ , Lav!” she said excitedly.

_ Oh no, _ Lavey thought, eyes going wide.

_ Oh no indeed, _ the other voice thought.

Lavey didn’t notice that someone had taken a picture of her face while she stared at Ilesha.

-

Crystal had been watching Lavey and Ilesha out of the corner of her eyes, and she had a feeling she recognized the expression on Lavey’s face. She didn’t know how she felt about it.

She was about to make a joke at Lavey’s expense, if only so she could wipe that look off her face because she decided that she  _ hated _ it, another voice chimed in.

“Who’s next?” Ilesha said in a sing-song voice.

“How about Crystal?” Mavros suggested.

Crystal’s eyes widened and shot to Mavros, her tail frizzing out and standing up straight behind her.

“Wha-”

“Oh, I’d  _ love _ to do your makeover!” Ilesha cried.

Lavey frowned a bit and glanced at Ilesha, apparently finally out of her daze that had started a few moments ago.

“I don’t know if I-”

“Please?” Ilesha asked, a puppy-ish look on her face.

Crystal tried to, but she couldn’t say no to that face.

“O-okay,” she stuttered out.

“Great!”

Ilesha grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the bed, shoving her onto it and then climbing over so that she was positioned between her legs like she had been with Lavey.

Crystal’s tail shot up as soon as Ilesha moved closer, and Ilesha rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, the singing stopped.

The song had ended.

“What’s with you and your sister not being able to sit still?” Ilesha said with an eye roll. She pushed Crystal back so that she was leaned against the wall.

Crystal was just staring at Ilesha, and no thoughts went through her mind.

Suddenly, she heard a voice that she didn’t recognize in her head.

_ I know what you’re thinking. _

_ What?! _

_ You’re thinking ‘I’m going to marry that woman.’ _

_ W-what?! No! _ Crystal thought, trying to shoo the unfamiliar voice from her mind. It caused her to flush, and her thoughts started back up again.

_ No chance no way I won't say it, no no, _ it sang.

Crystal didn’t understand.

“Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love,” Mavros started to sing quietly.

“This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love!” Cooper sang into a hairbrush, dancing back and forth.

“We'll do it until you admit you're in love,” Cooper, Akio, and Mavros sang together.

Ilesha moved closer to her and focused intently on her.

“You're way off base I won't say it,” Ilesha sang, sounding too beautiful for Crystal’s panicked state.

“Get off my case I won't say it,” team IMCA sang together.

“Girl don't be proud it's okay you're in love,” Ilesha sang, locking eyes with Crystal and giving her a small smirk.

Crystal didn’t think she could breathe, and her heart was pounding in her ears.

Ilesha pulled back and admired her handiwork.

“Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!” she cried.

“At least out loud I won't say I'm in love,” Crystal whispered, unable to stop herself as the song ended.

She didn’t notice Lavey watching her, nor the picture that Akio took.

-

Akio sent the two pictures to his mothers, laughing to himself.

**Akio:** _Look familiar._

**Yang:** _Haha, Weiss, looks just like you!_

**Blake:** _ Wait who are they looking at?! _

Akio didn’t respond, staring at the pictures of his sisters. Lavey and Crystal had on identical expressions, which could only be described as the Schnee look of love.

**Weiss:** _Akio, who are they looking at?!_

He didn’t respond.

**Ruby:** _Kio, who are they looking at?!_

His scroll started to buzz, so he answered the call.

“AKIO,” Weiss shouted, “WHO ARE YOUR SISTERS LOOKING AT?!”

Akio hung up.

They didn’t need to know that.


	27. A New Start

Jin stood up and stretched slowly, her eyes drifting over to her teammates.

The blanket curtain had, thankfully, been taken down, and the twin beds could be seen. They were stacked on top of each other very haphazardly, and Jin hadn’t noticed that the night before, considering she had been distracted by the argument. The bunk beds were hanging precariously, one on top of the other and balanced by random household items. It was done so poorly, that Jin assumed the  **thump** she had heard the night before had been Romy falling onto the ground due to the uneven height of the bed.

“Take those down,” Jin said. Her voice was tired and laden with a bit of frustration, as it was far too early in the morning for this.

Romy and Romelle both jumped at the words. They had been sitting at Aella’s former bed, which was now just the frame, talking about something that Jin hadn’t cared enough to pay attention to.

“Right, right!” Romelle hopped to her feet, and Romy was right behind her, the two of them hurrying to their beds.

They dismantled it quickly and put Romy’s bed on the ground beside Romelle’s.

Jin yawned before she froze, eyes going wide as she looked over at the beds.

Wait… had they just… done what she’d told them to?

That was a first.

Jin wracked her brain to remember what she had done differently that time.

Had it been because of their conversation? That made sense.

“Go get ready for class,” Jin said with a wave of the hand.

The two gremlins didn’t look up.

Jin glared.

“I  **said** get ready for class, it’s starting in ten minutes!” she snapped.

The two jumped and looked at Jin with wide eyes before they scrambled to do as they were told.

Jin’s eyes widened in shock.

Was… was it the voice? Was it the  _ yelling? _

Jin was a nice person, at least she liked to think that about herself, which meant that she hardly ever yelled or cursed or screamed or anything that showed she was angry, but it had worked last night when she had told them off for being bad teammates, and…

Jin raised her fist and banged it against the wall.

There was a sound of falling in the vents, and Jin rolled her eyes.

“Get out here, Aella!” she snapped.

Aella popped her head out of the vents and looked up at Jin with a small expression of fear on her face.

“What did you need, Jin?” she asked slowly, looking to the side at the twins, who were hurrying through their morning routines at full sprint.

“I need you to get ready so that we can go to class, Aella, so move it or lose it!” she called.

Aella nodded and jumped to do as she was told.

Jin felt a slow grin form on her face, and she looked around the room.

“I think that I’m starting to get the hang of this whole team leader thing,” Jin muttered to herself.

-

Jin was seated at the makeshift table, which was still made out of Aella’s old bed frame.

She was doing the homework that they had been assigned earlier, and all of her teammates were seated on their beds, either on their scrolls or talking to one another.

“What are you doing?” Jin asked with a raised eyebrow, staring at her teammates.

“Nothing,” Romy said with a shrug.

Jin’s eye twitched.

“Why aren’t you doing your homework?” she asked.

“Because we don’t feel like it,” Romy replied with a shrug.

“I’m going to do it later, it won’t take that long,” Romelle said with a wave of her hand.

  
Despite being identical, Romy and Romelle had gotten very different traits from their mothers. Jin had learned not long after starting at Beacon that Romelle was the smarter of the twins, at least when it came to school work, and that was the only type of intelligence that Jin cared about at this point, but that hadn’t been enough to stop Jin from losing her crush on Romelle.

  
She’d had a thing for Romelle for a few months before starting at Beacon, though it wasn’t as big a crush as Adolpha had had on Romy for the past few years (Jin still thought that her sister just needed to man up and ask Romy out at some point… she’d probably say yes, wouldn’t she?)

Anyways, the point was that Jin had had a crush on Romelle for a bit before they had gotten to Beacon, but she had lost it before the first night they had spent together in their dorm room. The girl had just become more like a cave gremlin that she was taking care of instead of a potential love interest, so that had ended cleanly.

“No, no way,” Jin said angrily. She snapped her fingers and pointed at the seats beside her. “Homework, now!”

Romelle and Romy exchanged a look before they rolled off of their beds and hurried to the desk so that they could get started.

Suddenly, Aella appeared from the ceiling, Jin wondered if perhaps Lavey was hiding somewhere in there as well, and dropped down to take a seat at the table.

“We’re studying? I’ve been waiting for this!” Aella cried in excitement.

Jin raised an eyebrow.

“You have?” she asked sarcastically.

Aella just nodded.

“Yup!”

Aella pulled out her homework, which she had had in a pocket in her cloak, and slammed it against the table.

Jin’s eyes widened in shock as she noticed that the notes were all color coded, though she wasn’t sure what the pattern was.

When asked, Aella started to explain.

“Gray is the, like, important stuff, cause, ya know, it’s Adolpha’s Aura color. Green is the important details, because it’s the color of our resident nerd’s Aura,” she was obviously talking about Akio, “and then red is the stupid stuff because it’s my color. Blue is the stuff that will bite you in the ass if you forget it, ya know, like Crystal.Then magenta, like Lavey, is-”

Jin held up her hand.

  
“I get it, I get it, it’s a good system, alright?”

Aella  **beamed** at the words, sitting up straighter.

“Thanks! Now, let’s get to studying!”


	28. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mavros: Your dad's a lesbian.  
> Akio: *confused shrieking*

“That’s good, Coop, but you need to be lighter on your feet,” Ilesha said.

  
Cooper nodded and tried again, this time looking far better, and Ilesha clapped her hands in excitement.

“Great job!”

“Akio, you need to be faster on your turns,” Ilesha continued.

Akio nodded, for once holding back his eye roll at the instructions, and did as he was told.

“Mav, when you do the lift, you need to make sure not to drop Cooper.”

“I’m more than capable of holding him in the air,” Mavros replied with an eye roll toward his partner.

Ilesha held her hands up defensively.

“Hey, I’m just saying,” she brought her hands down and then violently gestured at Mavros, “if you drop my baby boy I’m going to kill you and there will be no remains for the police to find. Now from the top, everyone!”

Mavros stared at Ilesha with a small light of fear to his eyes, as if he was afraid that Ilesha would follow through with her threats and he might not be able to pick up his tiny friend. He side eyed a beaming Cooper, who just giggled.

“I like this,” Cooper said, giving Mavros a small smile.

“It’s a great team building experience!” Ilesha said happily.

“It’s also going to give us a reputation as  **that** team,” Akio said with a small eye roll and a huff.

“We already have that reputation,” Ilesha waved her hand dismissively, “it happened after the I-M-C-A incident at the beginning of school, so we might as well lean into it! Now, let’s focus! Five, six, seven, eight!”

Ilesha clapped to the numbers before she started the music up, and the four started to dance in sync.

Ilesha had been pushed to the front of the show, considering she and Akio were the good dancers in the group, and they were showing off some.

Cooper was trying his hardest, but the only move he seemed to be able to consistently get right was the one where he leapt into his friend’s arms at the end and was lifted into the air. Mavros and Cooper weren’t as good as Ilesha and Akio, but they were trying their hardest, and that should definitely count for something, right? Ilesha definitely seemed to think so, considering she was cheering them on happily, making sure that they got the choreography perfect.

Once they had finished that, Akio and Ilesha started to sing to the music, if only for the fun of it.

It was funny to see Akio singing now, if only because of how adamantly he had been against so much as dancing earlier.

_ / _

_ “Yeah, I’m not doing that,” Akio said with an eye roll before he went back to his scroll. _

_ Cooper looked  _ **_crushed_ ** _ as he stared at his cousin with an expression of complete betrayal. _

_ “But… but we’re team,” he sang the next word, “IMCA. We have to do this sort of thing!” _

_ “No, we don’t, because it’s embarrassing,” Akio said with an eye roll. _

_ He glanced up, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he found that Ilesha and Mavros were both glowering down at him. _

_ “Alright, it’s okay if he doesn’t want to do it,” Mavros looked at Ilesha like she had betrayed him, “how about you just go set up, Coop? You too, Mav?” _

_ Mavros opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but Ilesha sent him a look, so he shut his mouth and followed after Cooper, but he glanced over his shoulder to watch what Ilesha was doing. _

_ Ilesha stalked up to Akio, grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and lifted him up off of the bed slightly. _

_ “You’re going to join us in this dance team bonding session, because it’s not just important that we bond as a team, but because I will beat the shit out of you if you don’t stop making Cooper sad. Don’t make me shmazer you.” _

_ Ilesha lifted Akio a few more inches into the air before she dropped him and let him slam against the bed again. _

_ Ilesha skipped over to join their teammates, and Mavros hastily pretended that he hadn’t seen what his team leader had done. _ __   
  


_ “So, you change your mind, Kio?” she called. _

_ “Y-yeah,” he stuttered out, scrambling off the bed and hurrying over to join his teammates. “On second thought, this is a great idea for team bonding!” _

_ Ilesha nodded. _

_ “It is. Now everyone get ready and I’ll show you the steps!” _

_ Mavros stared at Ilesha with a mix of fear and respect while Ilesha giggled at a message on her scroll. _

_ / _

“Okay, good job, guys!” Ilesha said with a grin and an excited clap. “That’s one song down!”

Akio frowned.

“One? Out of how many?”

Ilesha giggled.

“Yes.”

“That’s not an answer,” Akio replied.

“I know.”

Suffice it to say, eight hours later, team IMCA knew several dances, they were very tired, Akio was very embarrassed and awkward (yet somehow he had had a great time), and a very proud Ilesha.

Perhaps they’d even get the chance to show off some of their choreography.


	29. New

Aella stared up at the ceiling.

Everyone else in the dorm room was asleep, but she was still painfully awake.

“Am I a bad sister?” she whispered to herself, as if hoping that the silent room would hold the answers to her deepest questions.

She didn’t get any, and neither did the constant questioning that she had in her mind.

She could hear Adolpha’s and Lavey’s words echoed through her head.

_ She’s my sister too! _

_ “Is she?! Cause you’re not fucking acting like it!” _

_ I hope you feel horrible! _

“Don’t worry,” Aella muttered to herself reaching both of her hands up to cover her face, “I do. I  _ really _ do.”

-

“Aella, what’s wrong?” Jin asked.

“What makes you think that something’s wrong?” Aella asked.

“You’re cleaning.”

Aella flinched.

“I can clean!” Aella said.

“Well, you can, but like… you never do because you always say, and I quote, ‘cleaning is a waste of time because you’re just going to make the room dirtier again.’”

Aella looked away.

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m trying to be a better person, alright?” Aella said.

Jin frowned.

“You are?”   
  


“Is that such a surprise?” Aella asked.

Her voice was weird, as if she was worried.

That didn’t make sense.

Aella was never worried. In fact, she hardly ever cared about what  **anyone** thought, or felt, so why was it suddenly starting right now.

“I mean… yeah, it kind of is, I guess,” Jin said with an inconsequential shrug, turning away from the other girl and going back to cleaning.

Aella flinched again and shook her head, turning back and trying to focus, but the words echoed in her head on loop.

-

Aella glanced up, double checking that all of her teammates were still asleep.

When she was sure that they were, she pulled her scroll out of her pocket and held it out, rifling through some of the papers and starting to study a bit more.

She knew that she had been for the last few days quite a bit with her own teammates, but she wanted to make sure that she did well on the next test, that she was a good teammate…

A good sister.

Because… she could be a good sister. Right? It’s not that she couldn’t be, it’s just that…

She hadn’t been trying? Is that really what had happened? She hadn’t been trying to be a good sister.

The realization hit her like a train, and she suddenly fell backward and hit the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

She was being a bad sister, because she wasn’t trying to be a good sister.

She had just assumed that, no matter what, her sisters and brothers would love her, and that would be more than enough.

What if she wasn’t enough as she was? Was that how relationships worked? Did both people need to put in the effort, or just one? What about neither? Was a relationship about accepting a person for who they were at the time you cared for them first, or was it about changing for the person you loved?

Aella didn’t know the answer.

Was there something different about family relationships than other ones? Had she always been like this? Had she always been  _ the bad _ sister? Had they never told her?

Had she always been like this, and they had never thought to tell her about it? Had they thought that it didn’t matter? Had they just thought that there was no way for Aella to fix it?

Because… because she could fix it!

There was a way for her to fix it!

It was possible for her to change. She didn’t want to be a bad sister. In fact, for most of her life, she had thought that she was a  _ good _ sister. Had that been a lie the whole time too?

Had she just been kidding herself? Maybe she had just been ignoring the real issues this whole time.

But how could she fix it? Was it too late? Was Jin going to be mad at her for the rest of their lives?

No. No, she could fix this. And not only  _ could _ she fix it, she  **would** fix it. Aella was going to be the best sister that Jin had  **ever** had!

Or, well, at least second. After all, who could be better at being a sister than Adolpha? Who could be better at  **anything** than Adolpha?

Aella didn’t know what the answer would be, or if there  **could** be an answer, but she decided that it was irrelevant.

What mattered, is that she was going to fix it.

-

Aella was awake before any of her teammates, and she was already getting all of her things ready for the day.

She had even packed Jin’s bag for her.

“Aella, what the heck did you do? “ Jin asked suspiciously.

Aella flinched.

“Can’t I just do something nice?”

Jin frowned in confusion.

“Why are you acting so weird?”

“I’m not acting weird. I can act nice!” Aella snapped, her arms crossed and she suddenly looked very self-conscious.

Jin frowned worriedly and stepped closer, setting one hand on Aella’s arm.

“What’s going on? You know you can talk to me,” Jin said softly.

Aella pulled away.

No, that wasn’t how this was supposed to go, she was supposed to be the one that was being nice to Jin, not the other way around.

She shook her head.

“I’m fine, Jin, let’s get to class, we don’t want to be late.”

-

“How did you… what?”

Jin was staring at their test results with a shocked expression on her face.

“What?” Aella asked.

“How did you get the highest score!?” she cried, shoving the paper in Aella’s face. Said paper revealed that she  _ had _ gotten the highest score not only on her team, but in class.

Aella held back a yawn, thinking of her sleepless nights that were spent studying.

“I guess I just knew the material.”

“Did you cheat?!”

Aella flinched.

“Why do you just assume that I cheated?!” Aella snapped, rounding on her sister. “Is it too hard to imagine that I studied?! Is it too hard to imagine that maybe,  **just maybe** , I wanted to be a good teammate, Jin?!”

Jin was staring at Aella in shock, taking a step backward as she did so.

“Aella?” Jin whispered.

Aella’s eyes suddenly widened.

This was wrong. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

She was supposed to be the perfect sister, supposed to show her a different side of her. A  _ good _ side, a  _ good _ sister.

But… but she’d ended up just yelling at her.

It hadn’t worked.

Even when Aella was trying her hardest, she couldn’t be a good sister.

She blinked away tears.

Adolpha and Lavey were right.

With that thought, Aella turned on her heel and leapt into the air, manipulating the air around her to allow her to glide over students, her eyes burning with unshed tears in them.

-

There was a banging on the door, and Lavey huffed.

“Who is it?”

“Me,” Aella’s timid voice called from outside.

The door opened, and Lavey frowned in confusion.

“Hey, you alright?” she whispered, glancing behind her and double checking that all of her teammates were outside.

Aella shook her head.

“You were right.”

“What? About what?” Lavey asked, shepherding Aella inside.

“I am a bad sister,” she breathed.

“What?!” Lavey cried.

“I am,” Aella said, falling back onto the closest bed, she thought it was Crystal’s, and putting her head in her hands.

“First of all, no you’re not,” Lavey sat down next to her, “second of all, I never said that, and I  _ would never _ say that!”

Aella sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

“You did. Adolpha and you-”

“No we didn’t,” Lavey cut in, reaching over to set her hand on Aella’s hand on her shoulder. “We were angry, and we shouldn’t have said it, and… fuck. Aella, you’re a great sister, and… I shouldn’t have said that, I let my anger get the best of me, and I’m sorry.”

Aella gaped at Lavey for a long moment.

“Did… were you just nice to me?”

“Yes, because even little cave gremlin people can be nice to the people they love. But you have to put work into it. Because loving someone and being loved isn’t easy, you have to put a lot of effort into it, and sometimes you have to change.”

Aella sniffed and Lavey rolled her eyes.

“How and when did you become so wise?”

“I always have been, you just haven’t noticed. Now stop crying on my teammate’s bed, man, it’s just gross, and you know she’s going to have to clean it.”

“Then don’t tell her.”

“We were literally  **just** talking about being good sisters, of course I have to tell her!” Lavey cried. “Now get outta here and go talk to Jin. Also, don’t, just, like, do everything she tells you, that's weird and no team leader wants that.”

Aella raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t comment on it and just let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head.

She reached one hand up and wiped at her face, cleaning off its final tears.

“Alright, alright.”

Aella hurried to the door and paused just a moment before she left.

“Thanks, Lav.”

“Don’t mention it.”

-

Aella pushed the door open slowly, looking around.

Her eyes landed on the twins.

“Mind if we have a minute?” she asked.

Romy and Romelle both hesitated, glancing at Jin.

“Get out of here, you two, don’t cause too much destruction,” Jin said, waving her hand dismissively.

Aella hesitantly walked into the room.

“Hey, Jin, I just wanted to-”

“Aella, I’m sorry.”

Aella froze in place, eyes wide in disbelief.

“What?” she finally asked.

“I’m sorry. I should have known that I needed to be nicer. I can’t just boss you around, you’re my sister and-”

“Jin, stop,” Aella said quickly. “I came in here to apologize. I mean, of  **course** you’re a real team leader! I never should have doubted you, and then I was trying to make it up to you after messing it up, but that just made it worse because I snapped at you, and-”

Jin started to laugh, shaking her head.

“What do we do?” Aella asked finally, looking up at her sister.

“How about… how about we just agree that things are different now? That they’re not going to be the way they were before, because… we’re different now, so we need to figure this out. But we can do that together.”

Aella nodded, giving her sister a small smile.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”


	30. Twinterspection

Romelle let out a sigh, taking a seat at the cafeteria table.

Romy was at her side, and Adolpha was beside her sister.

Jin was at Romelle’s own.

Adolpha and Jin were talking over the twins’ heads, though Adolpha was, as always, sneaking glances at Romy.

Romelle wasn’t stupid, nor was she blind, like her sister, and knew of Adolpha’s feelings for her sister.

One would have to be so stupid not to realize it, which, apparently, Romy was.

Adolpha looked at Romy like she had put the very sun in the sky, had caused the planets to start rotating, and had made the very world they stood on.

It was odd that she only ever looked at Romy that way, and Romelle guessed that, due to her crush, Adolpha was one of the only people that could tell the two apart. She knew the slight difference in how Romy’s smile was a bit crueler than her own. Knew how Romelle was just a hair bit taller than her sister. How Romy’s eyes were just a slightly darker colored than Romelle’s, despite them sharing the same heterochromatic shades. How Romelle’s skin tone was closer to Ciel’s than Neopolitan’s, which meant that during the summer she would tan, but Romy would burn quite easily due to her paler skin tone.

Adolpha could also tell who was who based off of body language. Romy was more slouched whenever she stood, which meant that she was typically leaned against the wall or bent over. Romelle, on the other hand, was more regal and composed, like Ciel, and stood with straight posture and her chin raised into the air.

When it came to personality, they were both exceedingly unpredictable and chaotic, which is what Jin said about them both. However, Romelle was calmer and more methodical. She was the planner of the pair, which meant that Romy would come up with what sort of prank she would want to accomplish, and Romelle would plan it out accordingly. Romy was a bit more ludicrous, and by a bit, Romelle seriously meant  _ insane _ , but she still was fun to have around, and Romelle supposed that she would hang out with her even if they weren’t related, despite… certain issues that had arisen a few years back, but Romelle was used to that by now.

_ Used to what? _

_ You being a little bitch. _

Romelle glanced over at her sister and smirked while Romy glared and stuck her tongue out of her mouth.

_ You’re just jealous. _

Romelle winced.

Romy raised an eyebrow, and Romelle looked away quickly.

She surveyed the cafeteria, and she tapped into her Semblance.

That was another way they could be told apart, though Romelle doubted that Adolpha could tell what her Semblance was, nor that she cared.

_ Did it start again? _ Romy thought.

_ Yeah. _

_ Any idea what it means? _

_ Bitch, you know that I never know what they mean. _

Romy sent Romelle a smirk and Romelle rolled her eyes sufferingly.

_ You know I’m messing with you! _ Romy all but sang in her head.

Romy’s Semblance allowed her to connect with people telepathically and talk to them. She and Romelle were almost constantly connected, which was how they got away with so many pranks without anyone noticing what they had been doing. Not to mention, Romelle’s Semblance, which always alerted them to big events.

Whenever Romelle turned her Semblance on, she could hear ticking that got louder the closer she got to important events.

_ How loud is it? _

_ Not too bad, _ Romelle thought bad, shrugging.

Her eyes had shifted just slightly, not enough that most people would notice, but her eyes were glowing a pale, almost gray, color, which matched her Aura color. Inside her pupils, if one were to look close enough, they would be able to notice that there were miniature clocks that were ticking in circles, counting down to some unknown occasion that Romelle could not, and never could, predict beforehand. All she knew was that they were important, perhaps even life changing, and more often than not, they were deadly.

Sometimes, she swore that the ticking was so loud that it wanted to split her head open. So, naturally, she typically broadcasted the ticking in her head to her sister via thoughts.

Now was no exception, and Romy’s eyes narrowed.

_ How long would you say? _

_ You’d think that by now you’d have _ **_some_ ** _ sort of idea of your own by now, _ Romelle replied offhandedly.

_ Yeah, yeah, and I thought by now you’d know that I don’t care enough to learn, _ Romy responded.

_ I’d give it an hour or two. _

Romy rolled her eyes.

_ Think Adolpha’s gonna talk my ear off the whole time? _

_ Play nice, Romy. _

_ Why? _

Romelle was about to respond, though she didn’t know how, when, quite suddenly, all of the lights in the cafeteria went out.


	31. Electrifying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilesha is chaotic af but she's my little bean

Ilesha was laughing at something that Mavros had said. Or, well, not said, but thought to her. This caused several people around her to look at her weirdly.

Ilesha just grinned and waved at them.

They all stared at Ilesha with either looks of abject fear or confusion.

Mavros had shown them his Semblance a few days ago, which was something he called Echo. He could create auditory hallucinations, which were virtually indistinguishable from the real sound.

He could play voices, songs, sounds, and background noise. Pretty much anything he could think up!

_ Look at Cooper _ , Mavros sent to her.

She turned to look at where Cooper was standing at the toaster, quietly speaking with it.

“So, I want it toasted, but I don’t want it, like, burnt. But I also don’t want it to be  _ too _ untoasted, because then it’s just, like, bread, and if I wanted to eat bread like that, I’d have been born a duck, and, as you can see, I really wasn’t, despite my mom being a robot… but, Jim, that’s a story for another day,” Cooper said. He stared at the machine for a moment before he giggled and reached out to grab two pieces of bread, which he dropped into the toaster.

The toaster accepted them without Cooper having to press any buttons, and a moment later, it popped up with toast that was done perfectly as he had described.

Cooper let out an excited giggle and dropped the toast onto his plate, thanking the device, and walking over to join his teammates.

Cooper had a Semblance that allowed him to communicate and control electrical and mechanical objects through the use of his voice.

Cooper joined his teammates where they were sitting. It was near the edge of the cafeteria, and Ilesha was situated near the very end of the table. She suddenly leaned down and looked at the nearby electrical socket.

“Do you think this is connected to the rest of the school’s electricity?” Ilesha asked.

“Probably not,” Akio said, glancing up from his book just long enough to see what she was staring at.

“You think so?” Ilesha continued.

“I mean, I’d expect it not to be,” Akio said, shrugging.

“How much you wanna bet?” Ilesha asked.

“I don’t want to bet you,” Akio said with an eye roll.

“But you said it probably wasn’t connected to the rest of the school.”

“I’ve said a lot of things, Ilesha!” Akio put his book down some so he could wave his hand dismissively. “I said that I would have logical teammates, I said that I would get to eat my breakfast and read my book in peace, and now I’m saying that that socket probably isn’t connected to the rest of the school, but I wouldn’t put money on any of this! You know why?!”

Ilesha cocked her head to the side slightly and allowed him to continue.

“Because none of these things happened because you’re all chaotic as fuck!” Akio snapped.

Ilesha giggled.

“So how much you wanna bet?”

“I’m not betting you!”

“Wuss.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Mavros said.

Ilesha immediately turned over to face them, an excited grin on her face.

“Really?!”

“Yeah, sure. If Akio doesn’t think it’s hooked up to the entire school, then I’ll take that bet.”

“How much we talking?” Ilesha asked, suddenly seeming serious.

Mavros stared at Ilesha with a look of absolute shock before he smirked.

“Thirty-five Lien.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, good person!” she cried.

She held out her hand, and they took it in their own, the two shaking on the deal with a smirk from each of them, as if both knew something that the other didn’t.

“So how are you going to check-”

Ilesha whipped her shmazer out of her pocket with a wide grin before she pressed the button to cause the knife blade to pop out of the front.

“What the heck are you do-”

Ilesha then  **slammed** the shmazer into the electrical socket.

“What the fu-”

A buzz of electricity shot through Ilesha, and she let her eyes fall shut, the energy shooting through her body and making her jolt as she shot backward.

“ILESHA!” Mavros, Akio, and Cooper screamed as one as Ilesha sat there, her shmazer still shoved into the electrical socket.

The lights flickered in the cafeteria, and in the hallways outside of the doors where Ilesha could see, before they shut off for good.

There was screaming that sounded down the hallways, but nothing louder than the shriek Mavros gave.

Ilesha slumped over the table.

There was a long moment of shock before her teammates raced toward her-

And Ilesha popped her head up with a grin.

“You owe me thirty-five Lien!”

Mavros screamed in shock, jumping back from Ilesha as she sat up further, an energetic smile on her face.

“Wow! That was  _ a lot _ of electricity! I bet I could power, like, twenty shmazers at once like this!”

“What the fuck?!” Mavros screamed.

“You owe me thirty-five Lien is what’s a matter, Mav!” Ilesha said. She ran a hand through her hair and began to giggle. As her hand pushed through it, her hair stuck up in crazy angles and little bolts of lightning shot out of it. Her hair was a much lighter shade of blond than it used to, like the brown streaks had been completely removed, and it was now a vibrant color of yellow. “Wow! That was  _ so much _ electricity! That was, like, a whole school’s worth of electricity!’

In the dark room, all of Ilesha seemed to glow in the dim lighting. When she shook her head, small bolts of lightning shot from it and hit the table around her, as if she were a storm cloud.

“Ah!” Cooper cried, leaping to the side to avoid a stray lightning bolt.

“Sorry!” Ilesha cried, reaching her hand out and trying to set it apologetically on Cooper’s hand, but when her fingers grazed against his own, he yelped in shock and jumped back, having been hit by several stray bolts of electricity.

“What the heck is wrong with you?!” Akio cried.

“What are you referring to exactly?” Ilesha asked. She’d been asked this particular question a lot in her life, and she wanted to be sure what he was referring to.

“ **_THAT_ ** !” Akio shouted, gesturing at the electrical socket, which still had her shmazer in it.

Ilesha glanced at it and gasped.

“Oh my Dust! You’re right!”

Ilesha leaned back down and yanked her shmazer out of the socket, grinning.

“Thanks! Nice save, Kio!”

“That’s not what I… never mind.”

“What the fuck is your Semblance?!” Mavros demanded, leaning closer to Ilesha and looking as if he was about to grab her shoulders to shake her back and forth.

“Uh…,” Ilesha hesitated, as if she had forgotten what it was because she was being yelled at by her friend. “Oh! Right! My Semblance! I can absorb and redistribute electricity!”

With that, Ilesha reached her hand forward and poked Mavros on the nose.

“Boop!” Ilesha said with a giggle.

Electricity shot into him from Ilesha and he fell backward out of his chair, twitching on the ground as if she had tased him.

Ilesha laughed and shook her head.

As she did so, more electrical discharge was sent flying in every direction.

“How did we not know your Semblance?!” Akio cried.

“Beats me, I thought you knew!” Ilesha said, shrugging with a small grin on her face.

“How?!” Akio demanded.

“I mean… how else do you think I work the shmazer? There’s not a button for me to press to use it, man.”

Akio froze.

Ilesha just shook her head and giggled.

“That’s alright, Kio, we all miss things sometimes. Put ‘er there!”

Ilesha held out her hand for Akio, and, in his dazed state, he took it.

Immediately, electricity shot from Ilesha and flooded him, causing Akio to cry out and fall backward onto the ground.

Ilesha giggled and glanced at Cooper, holding her hand up for a high.

“Wanna make it three for three?”

Cooper shook his head fearfully.

  
“Lame.”

Ilesha giggled and glanced at her teammates.

“H-how did you figure,” Akio huffed as he pushed himself to a standing position, “out your Semblance?”

“ **That’s** a funny story!”

_ / _

_ Ilesha grabbed the fork and hefted it up and down in her hand. _

_ “Hey mommy?!” _

_ “Yes, Sweetie Poo?” Alea called back. _

_ “What does metal do when it’s mixed with ewectwicity?” _

_ “It makes the electricity more  _ **_powerful_ ** _!” Alea said with an excited light to her words. _

_ A five year old Ilesha giggled and then looked down at the fork. _

_ She then giggled and slammed it into the electrical socket. _

_ Five minutes later, Alea came racing into the room, the lights having shut off in the entire house, and her eyes went wide. _

_ “Illy?! Are you alright?!” _ __  
  


_ “Yes, mommy!” _

_ Alea darted toward her and scooped Ilesha into her arms gently, cradling her and- _

_ “Ouch!” _

_ A jolt of electricity had come from Ilesha’s hair and zapped her mother. _

_ Alea stumbled forward, setting down Ilesha gently on the counter, though she herself almost fell and hit her face, and Ilesha giggled, falling back against the wall, hitting the electrical socket with her back and causing the electricity to seep from her and into the house again. _

_ The lights came back on, and Ilesha giggled, grinning at her mother. _

_ “I made the lights come on!” _

_ Alea smiled at her fondly. _

_ “You sure did, Sweetie Poo, cause you’re…  _ **_electrifying_ ** _!” _

_ Ilesha giggled and nodded, letting herself be picked up by her mother and carried out of the room. _

_ / _

Akio gaped at Ilesha, who just shrugged.

“Pretty common story.”

“No it’s  **not** !”

“You say tomato and I say potato.”

“That’s not the saying.”

“It’s  **my** saying! Now come on, we have to get to sparring class!”

Ilesha hopped to her feet and all but skipped out of the room, her teammates finally following after a minute later.

(Cooper helped Mavros to his feet, the tall boy still grumbling unintelligibly about Ilesha).

Ilesha just giggled and rolled her eyes, planting one foot on the ground before she twirled the rest of herself around the pivot point, just barely dodging between three different students, which caused all of them to cry out, having been shocked by Ilesha.

She didn’t care. After all, her presence was electrifying, so she guessed it didn’t matter if she stepped it up a notch.


	32. Shut Up and Dance With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *texting*  
> Ilesha: I want to marry you.  
> Lavey: *panicking and not typing*  
> Ilesha: *marry  
> Lavey: *panic increases*  
> Ilesha: Damn autocorrect. m a i s e. I want to MAISE you!  
> Lavey: oh...
> 
> (By TheFrosted_Milk)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any songs that have been in the fic. Just in case some bitch wants to copyright me. I mean nothing has been my intellectual property but the OCs and the story. Can't believe I have to put this, because if you think they are, you stupid af.
> 
> If you wanna be invested in the chapter, listen to the song "shut up and dance with me"
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JCLY0Rlx6Q

Jin pushed herself out of her chair and stood, looking around the room and watching her teammates do the same.

_Do we have to?_ Romy thought.

Jin rolled her eyes.

_Get up, damnit!_ she snapped.

Romy shot to her feet, glancing to the side at her team leader and trying to give her a calming smile.

Jin smirked and turned to face the front of the classroom. The lights had been out for a few hours, but they had finally gotten them back on.

They were in Pyrrha and Velvet’s class, which was focused on the use of Semblances and the perfection of them.

Her team had been picked to practice sparring with their own, and Velvet was still deciding who they were going to fight.

_You’re going to listen to me this time, right?_ Jin asked.

_Of course,_ Aella replied instantly.

_Yes,_ Romelle thought, rolling her eyes.

_Probably,_ Romy thought back, shrugging to herself and following after their team leader.

_Yeah, it wasn’t really a question, Romy,_ Jin replied with a small glare.

Romy paled a bit, which was saying something, and forced a laugh.

_Just kidding, Jin! I mean, of course I’m going to listen to you! You’re the team leader, after all!_

Jin nodded to her teammates and walked to the center of the room.

“Who wants to fight against team JARR?” Velvet asked.

“Oh! Oh! I do!”

Jin spun at the familiar voice, eyes going wide and filling with fear.

“We want to, don’t we guys?!” Ilesha said.

Mavros and Akio both shrugged their shoulders as if they didn’t care. Cooper just grinned and nodded in excitement, standing up to skip after their team leader.

Jin paled.

Wait.

She was going to be fighting Ilesha… again.

“Oh no,” Jin whispered to herself, taking a subconscious step backward.

“Hey, Jinny!” Ilesha called, waving her hand at the other girl with a grin.

Jin glanced at her teammates, who were all staring at her.

_What’s your problem?_ Romelle asked, though she sounded almost worried for the team leader.

_Do you not remember the time this girl_ **_maised_ ** _me?!_ Jin thought back.

_Yeah but that was, like, a week ago,_ Aella sent.

_That doesn’t matter! This girl still_ **_maised_ ** _me!_

_You were fine,_ Romy said with an eye roll.

_Okay, it’s your turn to get maised!_

_This is a no weapon fight, so don’t think that’ll happen._

Jin scowled at her and then sighed, shaking her head and popping her back.

Ilesha had skipped up to the front of the classroom, and was currently grinning at her opponents.

“Team IMCA, we ready?” she asked in her usual chipper voice.

“One second,” Cooper said.

He hurried back to his seat as if he had forgotten something, and he grabbed a speaker, which he carried to the front of the room.

While he was doing this, Ilesha had hopped over to the front row, where team LAAC was sitting.

She leaned back against the table and grinned at the team members.

“This is going to be so **fun**!” she cheered. She seemed more excited than she usually was, as if she had somehow gotten extra energy from somewhere.

Crystal and Lavey looked up at her.

“What’s wrong with your hair?” Crystal asked bluntly, eyes widening as she suddenly realized what she had said.

“Oh this?” Ilesha reached one hand up and grabbed a bit of her hair. The two could have sworn they saw bits of electricity shoot from Ilesha’s hair, but that wouldn’t have made sense. “It’s cause of the black out. Or, well, I guess it’s the black out that’s because of my hair… anyways, what do you think?”

“Did you dye it?” Lavey asked, trying to sound disinterested. She was slightly sad that Ilesha’s old hair color was gone, considering she had found it rather… cute.

“What? No way! I don’t dye my hair,” Ilesha said, shrugging. “You like this color better?”

“Yes,” Crystal said.

“No,” Lavey said at the same time.

The two glanced at each other, eyes narrowing.

“Well, I think both of you are going to get more than enough of both colors in the future,” Ilesha said with a smirk and a wink before she twirled away, as if she was listening to music.

The two were left staring at the younger girl.

“Mind playing the music we talked about earlier?” Cooper asked gently to the speaker.

A moment later, the speaker started up at Cooper’s request, and he started to giggle.

“Alright, we’re ready.”

The music started up just as the fight began.

“Oh don't you dare look back,” the song started.

“I love this song!” Ilesha said, twirling in a circle as her teammates stood beside her.

“Just keep your eyes on me,” Mavros said, singing along with the song, his eyes narrowed as he watched the other team, as if warning the other team.

_Aella, aerial attack,_ Jin directed.

Aella nodded and took off, using her Semblance to direct her gliding with great skill.

Mavros spun in a fluid motion, moving to the beat of the song as if he was dancing to it. He grabbed Cooper by the hips and threw him into the air.

Cooper laughed and reached into his pocket before he threw a handful of… something?!  
  


Aella let out a shriek of shock as it hit her in the face.

“I thought there were no weapons!” she shrieked.

Cooper dropped to the ground, Mavros catching him.

“I said you're holding back,” Ilesha sang, as if mocking the other team with the song.

“But I need things to use my Semblance, so I’m allowed!” Cooper called as he was set down, starting to dance.

“She said,” Akio sang, disappearing

Akio teleported beside Romy and reached his fist up, punching her square in the face.

“Shut up,” he teleported away, “and dance with me.”

Ilesha giggled at Akio, giving him a fond smile at having sung of his own volition.

Ilesha raced forward.

_Watch out!_ Jin sent to Romelle.

Romelle could hear the ticking in her head get louder, and she sent out a punch, only for Ilesha to slide against the ground on her knees, right beneath her fist.

“This woman is my destiny.”

Ilesha shot her elbow out to the side, hitting Romelle in the thigh.

Crystal and Lavey watched Ilesha as she laughed, rolling to the side and to her feet, standing over a fallen Romelle before sending out a kick, hitting her in the side.

Romelle grunted and rolled away, but Ilesha didn’t seem like she was going to let her go.

“She said oh oh oh,” Ilesha sang as she twirled in a tight circle to the music, avoiding a punch that Jin had thrown her way.

“Shut up and dance with me!” all four members of team IMCA sang.

“We were victims of the night,” Akio sang, getting lost to the music as he teleported over behind Jin, reaching his leg up and kicking her.

Jin stumbled forward.

“The chemical, physical, Kryptonite,” Ilesha continued, reaching her own leg up and swinging her whole body to bring pressure against Jin’s front. She stumbled back.

“Helpless to the bass and the fading light,” Akio sang.

Akio teleported away from Jin’s back and into the air above her.

He dropped through the sky and landed on top of her, sending her tumbling to the ground with a **thud**.

“Oh we were bound to get together,” Ilesha sang as she darted over to join Akio, both of them kicking at Jin, who rolled to the side, but was still hit.

“Bound to get together!” they sang as one, continuing to fight Jin.

Meanwhile, Cooper and Mavros had cornered Aella and Romy.

Romy was attempting to call for help telepathically, but their teammates couldn’t do anything, due to both of them being distracted by Ilesha and Akio.

“She took my arm,” Mavros grabbed Aella as she attempted to fly off, bringing her slamming down against the ground.  
  
Aella groaned in pain.

“I don't know how it happened,” Cooper threw a round object against the ground after whispering to it, and the whole room was filled with smoke.

“We took the floor and she said,” Cooper shot through the smoke, goggles covering his eyes as he whispered instructions to them. He punched Romy, who let out a cry of shock at the sudden attack.

“Oh don't you dare look back,” Mavros sang, kicking Aella as she attempted to fly off.

Meanwhile, across the room, Ilesha shot toward Romelle and her body slammed against her with her shoulder.

Romelle was sent flying backward, stumbling.

“Just keep your eyes on me!” she sang, twirling in a circle and avoiding Romelle’s punch.

Romelle was unbalanced and sent stumbling forward at the punch, and Ilesha brought her leg forward and grabbed Romelle around the ankle and sent her falling to the ground.

“I said you're holding back,” Ilesha sang with a grin.

Akio teleported in front of Jin, who sent a punch his way.

Akio teleported away, and she was sent stumbling forward.

Akio and Ilesha locked eyes before they grinned.

“She said shut up and dance with me,” Akio sang, teleporting to Romelle’s side while Ilesha leapt over the girl on the ground, racing toward Jin at top speed.

Ilesha grabbed Jin by the wrist and tugged her back.

Jin let out a cry of shock as she felt a small jolt of electricity shoot through her, and for a moment she wondered if the other girl had used her shmazer. The idea made her _terrified_.

Ilesha used Jin’s fear and surprise to get the upper hand. When she tugged Jin backward, she stumbled toward Ilesha. The moment before Ilesha could get hit by the other girl, Ilesha ducked down, releasing Jin’s hand, and let the giant of a woman trip over her back, flying over Ilesha and striking the ground again with a **thud**.

“This woman is my destiny.”

Crystal and Lavey watched Ilesha with identical looks of complete fascination.

“She said oh oh oh,” Ilesha sang and stepped toward Jin, “shut up and dance with me.”

Akio sent a punch as Romelle scrambled to her feet, hitting her square in the face. She stumbled back, and he sent a punch at her chest. She dove to the side, and Akio teleported over to the side so that his fist stuck home, and she let out a cry of shock.

“A backless dress and some beat up sneaks,” Ilesha sang as she spun to the side to avoid a kick from Jin on the ground. “My discotheque Juliet teenage dream.”

Ilesha turned and slammed her foot against Jin’s chest. Her eyes landed on the front row of people, and she grinned at Lavey and Crystal.

“I felt it in my chest as she looked at me. I knew we were bound to be together.”

Ilesha jumped back as Jin scrambled to her feet.

“Bound to be together,” Ilesha sang.

Jin threw a punch at Ilesha, and she flowed to the side, hitting Jin’s arm with her hand and causing her to be thrown off balance.

“She took my arm, I don't know how it happened,” all four team members sang. “We took the floor and she said…

“Oh don't you dare look back!” Mavros sang.

“Just keep your eyes on me,” Cooper sang, his voice better than it had been, but still a bit sharp.

“I said you're holding back,” Ilesha called, twirling in a tight circle as Jin stumbled to her feet.

“She said shut up and dance with me,” Akio sang.

Ilesha laughed and closed the distance between herself and Jin until she was about a foot away.

“This woman is my destiny.”

‘She said oh oh oh,” Ilesha sang.

Akio slammed his boot against Romelle’s chest, having fallen several feet through the air to kick her, and her Aura hit the danger zone. She was out.

“Shut up and dance with me,” Akio sang.

Mavros slammed his shoulder against Aella, and she was thrown backwards, hitting the wall. Her Aura hit the danger levels. She was done.

Cooper punched Romy and sent her Aura down to the lowest levels. She was out of the count.

“Oh, c'mon girl!” Cooper and Mavros sang as one.

“Deep in her eyes,” Ilesha sang.

She brought one arm up and then put her hand on her wrist to steady it.

“I think I see the future,” she continued.

She closed one eye and focused on Jin.

“I realize this is my last chance,” she sang.

Jin dashed forward as if hoping she could land a hit on Ilesha.

“She took my arm.”

Ilesha took one last look before she put her front hand in a finger gun motion. She pulled the trigger as Jin took another step.

“I don't know how it happened.”

Electricity shot out of Ilesha’s first finger and carried the few inches between her and Jin. Jin let out a cry of shock as she was jolted, sending her falling back onto the ground.

“We took the floor and she said.”

Ilesha grinned in excitement as she looked up and saw that the other girl’s Aura hit dangerous levels.

“Oh don't you dare look back.”

Jin was done, and they’d won.

“Just keep your eyes on me!” Cooper cheered as he sang.

Mavros lifted him a few feet off the ground, holding him by the hips and singing with him.

“I said you're holding back,” Ilesha sang smugly as she spun in a circle with a laugh.

“She said shut up and dance with me,” Akio sang.

Ilesha’s hair had changed colors, and now it was in between the golden color that Crystal preferred and the brown that Lavey liked.

“This woman is my destiny,” Crystal and Lavey sang under their breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editor's note: It is impossible to defend against dance-fighting


	33. Realizations (5.0)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adolpha: *narrating* Somebody once wrote, "Hell is the impossibility of reason." Well, that's what this place feels - like hell. I hate it here already and it's only been a few hours. I'm so tired. We get up at four in the morning-  
> Lavey: OH MY DUST WILL YOU STOP?!?
> 
> (Wyvernsdemise submitted this)

It wasn’t that team IMCA had wanted, nor expected, this to happen.

Seriously, it wasn’t expected.

How could a person expect… **this**?!

“Hey Cooper,” a girl said in a sing-song voice. None of the members of team IMCA knew what her name was. “Can I have an autograph? I just _loved_ watching you dance in our Semblance class.”

Ilesha would have joined in and said that they weren’t exactly an autograph-signing team, that they just enjoyed dancing and singing sometimes while they beat the Dust out of people. But, well, Ilesha was a bit distracted.

“I, uh, would you mind not touching my hair?” Ilesha asked, sinking down and trying to avoid the hand that had landed on it.

“But it’s so _cute_!” a female voice cried.

“Uh… thanks?” Ilesha asked. Another hand touched her hair, and a woman yelped as a bit of electricity shot from her hair to the woman’s hand.

“Sorry!” Ilesha cried, jumping back to her teammates.

Akio rolled his eyes as Ilesha bumped into his arm, almost causing him to drop his book.

“What’s going on?” Ilesha hissed.

“We’ve become the archetypal boy band,” Akio replied lowly, rolling her eyes.

“The what what now?” Ilesha asked.

“The typical boy band.”

“What do you mean?” Ilesha asked, frowning in confusion and glancing at the group of girls that were staring at her.

Akio sighed and put his book down, shaking his head.

“Alright. We sing, we dance, we go to their school, we are the dream boy band for these people.”

Ilesha sighed.

“Explain better,” she demanded.

“Okay, look. A boy band is a band that looks like a bunch of young boys, though they’re usually, like, thirty. Though… in our case, the main boy is a girl, so that doesn’t make sense… anyways, it means that we are all super popular singing people that are, apparently, easy to get crushes on.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You usually don’t.”

“That’s fair, but you’re also an asshole,” Ilesha said, rolling her eyes and glancing to the side, seeing that several girls were still staring at her. She waved awkwardly, giving them a small smile and causing several to giggle or blush and shyly wave back.

“I can’t believe you have seven fangirls,” Mavros said.

Ilesha frowned, shooting them a look before turning to look at the five girls that were staring at her.

“Uh… I only see five.”

“I’m sure.”

Mavros glanced to the side and saw that two members of team LAAC were sneaking glances at Ilesha while trying, and probably thinking they were, subtle.

They were failing.

Mavros was laughing the moment he stepped into the cafeteria, and hadn’t stopped since.

Both girls were sending small glares at the fangirls that had surrounded Ilesha.

“Pathetic, really,” Crystal said, rolling her eyes at the girls.

“Definitely,” Lavey agreed far too quickly, causing Crystal to glance her way.

Crystal, for a minute, didn’t glance that way, staring at her sister with suddenly narrowed eyes.

Lavey was watching Ilesha with a slightly irritated expression on her face, tapping her finger against the table as if she was frustrated about something. Her eyes narrowed as another figure moved toward Ilesha, but a light blush appeared on Lavey’s face when Ilesha shocked them with her hair.

 _Oh,_ Crystal thought, _Lavey has a crush on Ilesha._

Crystal’s eyes widened in shock.

 _Lavey can_ **_have_ ** _a crush?! She’s_ **_capable_ ** _of that?! Since when?! I’ve never seen her happy but when she’s planning shit! What the fuck?!_

Crystal suddenly hesitated.

_Wait… is she planning something now? Is she planning a way to ask Ilesha out?_

The idea made Crystal scowl for a long moment as she continued down her train of thought.

She was going to ask out Ilesha? That was good, right? Ilesha seemed interested in Lavey, it seemed. They would make a good couple, she was sure of it.

So why did it make Crystal feel dirty inside?

She could imagine Lavey and Ilesha going on a date. Lavey would be awkward, which was still a shock to Crystal (seriously, she’d never seen her sister blush before in her life), and Ilesha would be confused, but it would be cute and a story they could tell when they were older.

And all the sudden Crystal could imagine them when they were older, living a happy life together. And Crystal was… 

Her eyes widened.

 _Oh shit. Oh shit oh fuck oh shit,_ Crystal thought. _Fucking damnit._

Crystal started to curse under her breath, and Lavey jumped, as if she had been shocked out of some sort of daze.

“Cy?” she asked. Lavey was blushing deeply still, and perhaps she had turned a darker shade of red when Lavey realized Crystal had been watching her stare at Ilesha. “W-what’s wrong?”

Lavey crossed her arms against her chest, as if she was trying to pretend she wasn’t still a stuttering and blushing mess.

“Nothing,” Crystal said, feeling her face flush as well and causing her to look away from Lavey.

 _Shit. Why? WHY?! I already have to like,_ Crystal looked up, eyes landing Ilesha, and she saw that the younger girl was trying to avoid the fangirls, which caused her to scoot to the side on her seat, only to fall over and land on the ground in a heap, **_that_ ** _thing, but I also have to compete with_ **_Lavey_ ** _?! This is so not fair! Universe… universe, why are you doing this to me? I know I haven’t been the nicest person, but, like, seriously, this is fucked up._

“You sure?” Lavey pestered, trying desperately to distract herself from Ilesha by talking with her sister.

“Yup!” Crystal said quickly, though her voice was a much higher pitch than it typically was.

Lavey looked like she was about to call her on it, but Crystal didn’t notice, considering her gaze had gone back to Ilesha, who was now stumbling to her feet after having fallen off of her chair.

Ilesha giggled at her own clumsiness and then ran a hand through her hair, causing bits of electricity to shoot around. Crystal flushed as she watched, and Lavey glanced at her, eyes suddenly widening.

Unlike Crystal, Lavey didn’t need a long, drawn out realization.

 _Shit,_ she thought. _Crystal, you bitch._

-

Suffice it to say, things were awkward. Neither mentioned a thing, but from the way they looked at one another, it was clear to both of them that they knew what was happening.

The way they looked at Ilesha made it abundantly so, and the awkward glances they would share with one another even more so.

But, still, neither mentioned it, because… that would definitely be worse. And awkward. And then they’d have to actually **talk** about that, which would just be… bad.

So the two had a silent agreement to stay silent and never have an agreement.

-

Two hands reached out of the darkness and grabbed Lavey and Crystal’s own, tugged them into the dark end of the hallway.

Why was it dark? Lavey and Crystal could have sworn that there were working lights that were around this hall…

Lavey went to tug her hand out of the other person’s, but the hand tightened, and a face pulled closer to whisper in Lavey’s ear, sending a shiver down her spine as soon as she recognized the voice.

“Be quiet.”

Crystal, who had realized that it was Ilesha from the moment they had been tugged into the darkened section (due to her Faunus ability to see in the dark), and she was blushing darkly, glancing down at their connected hands.

She glanced to the side and caught sight of Lavey’s reaction to Ilesha.

Ilesha then leaned over so that she could talk to Crystal, but due to being unable to see too well in the dark, she misjudged and her face came within a centimeter of Crystal’s own, causing the Faunus’ mouth to go dry.

“It’s me, calm down,” Ilesha whispered.

 _Like_ **_that_ ** _was the fucking problem. The problem was_ **_knowing_ ** _it was you, idiot. Seriously, why am I attracted to her? She’s a moron!_

Crystal considered.

She supposed she must have been a morosexual… except she’d seen Ilesha’s test scores the other day, and they were far higher than they deserved to be, considering she had once seen the other girl take a bite of cardboard, chew it for a moment, and then spit it out after realizing what it was.

Ilesha smiled at Crystal and the Faunus forced herself to think of a distraction.

“What are you doing?!” Crystal hissed.

“I wanted to see you two, but there were a lot of those creepy girls that are following my team around, and they made me uncomfortable, so I wanted to see you… and so I grabbed you!”

Crystal took a long, deep breath as she glanced at her sister.

Yes, this was going to be a problem, a big one, actually, and despite both of them clearly trying to get over their feelings for Ilesha (both for the sake of the other and themselves), they were both in way too deep.


	34. Sparring

Team LAAC was in the middle of a fight with team RSCC.

Suddenly, Adolpha was smacked in the face with a weapon.

“Son of a bitch!” Lavey cried, halting herself a moment before she could shift her bo staff into its over form to hit Saffron.

Saffron let out a sigh of relief and glanced at her sister, giving her a small smile and hurrying over to her side.

Adolpha groaned and rolled over from where she laid on the ground, looking up at the ceiling with a suffering expression on her face.

She had been hit in the face with a yo-yo.

She was laying on the ground now, with an expression that seemed to say “kill me please, thanks!”

“What the heck was that?!” Lavey cried.

“Me getting hit in the fucking face, Lav!” Adolpha cried.

“I saw that! It would have been the funniest thing I’ve seen in months if it wasn’t also the saddest thing that’s ever happened!”

Adolpha glared at her.

“It was hard to watch! I just watched you get the shit beat out of you with a  **yo-yo** ! A yo-yo, Adolpha! That’s insane! That’s not even a weapon! I mean  **look** at it!” Lavey gestured at Clover’s weapon. “A  **yo-yo** , Adolpha!”

“I know what happened, Lavey! I saw the yo-yo! It hit me in the face, so of course I saw it!” Adolpha snapped.

“Uh… do you want to take a break?” Saffron asked nervously.

“Sure. Sure! I mean, Adolpha here needs a second so that she can heal from getting hit in the face by a yo-yo!” Lavey snapped, throwing her hands in the air.

Rosemary gathered her team members and led them out of the sparring room to talk while Lavey yelled at her teammate.

“Seriously! A yo-yo!”

“He’s good with it! I mean, he’s been working with it for years now!” Adolpha defended, pushing herself to her feet.

The Vytal tournament was a month away, which meant that they were picking up practicing.

And yet… Adolpha had not seemed to have gotten any better.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t a good fighter. She certainly was, she was actually a  **great** one, but Adolpha was also, apparently, not good at teamwork when she wasn’t the leader.

“That’s not the point, Adolpha!” Lavey snapped.

“Then why are you yelling about it?!” Adolpha cried.

“Because you’d rather get hit in the face by a yo-yo than listen to one damn word that I say!” Lavey replied.

Adolpha stared at Lavey for a long moment before she looked away, her face flushed and her arms crossed against her chest.

“Yeah! Maybe I would!” Adolpha snapped, though she could feel how petty the words sounded, and she hated it. She hated that she was brought to this, but, well… she would worry about that later.

Lavey gaped at her, making wild gestures with her hands in her frustration.

“Seriously?! What have I  **ever** done to you?!” Lavey cried.

Adolpha turned to look at Lavey now and glared at her, feeling more vindicated that Lavey had said this.

“Are you kidding?! You tried to manipulate me into listening to you using mind tricks!” Adolpha shouted.

Auburn and Crystal were now watching their sisters with wide eyes. It had been clear that this was coming, but it was still a shock to see it for themselves.

“How is giving you compliments manipulating you?!” Lavey screamed.

“You wanted something! You were manipulating me with them!” Adolpha cried.

Lavey stalked the few steps between the two of them, raising her hand and poking Adolpha in the chest. The force from the poke felt like a shove due to Lavey’s semblance.

“Maybe the  **real** problem here,” Lavey cried, “is that  _ you _ can’t take a compliment that doesn’t have something about being the leader!”

Adolpha’s eyes widened and she took a subconscious step backward.

“Maybe the  _ real _ problem you have here isn’t with  **me** , but with  **yourself** , because you don’t  _ like _ who you are!”

Adolpha’s eyes widened in disbelief, and her mouth went dry. She couldn’t think of any response to the words.

But… but that was preposterous! Of course she liked who she was! She…

She was a… she was a great leader.

And…

And she was what?

Adolpha considered for just a moment, and suddenly her whole existence seemed to shift before her eyes.

That was it, wasn’t it?

That… that was all she was.

Lavey was right. Or, well… yeah, she was right.

And she still hadn’t that idea.

Lavey  _ shouldn’t _ be right.

Adolpha’s eyes filled with tears and she growled, stalking forward and shoving Lavey with her shoulder to push her out of the way.

She walked out of the room, Lavey watching her go with a slight look of regret on her face.

Adolpha, meanwhile, found herself collapsing into tears.

That was all she was, wasn’t it? She was just a leader.

She didn’t know who she was without it.

And Lavey had taken it from her, she had taken the one thing that she had felt was  _ hers _ , and now… Adolpha was lost.

Adolpha pushed the dorm room door open and locked it behind her, falling against the bed and cradling her face in her hands.

That was all she had known to be, and now…

Lavey had taken it.

-

Lavey sighed and ran a hand through her hair. That had probably been a mistake. It hadn’t been what she meant to do.

She’d just…

Adolpha had been getting angrier lately, and Lavey had just hoped that she could speed the process up by spelling it out for Adolpha, and had sort of forgotten that not all people were as good at reading others, and themselves, as she was.

She guessed she’d just have to see how this ended up.

“Hey, are we still sparring, or-”

“Get outta here, Colby!” Lavey snapped, gesturing at the door. “I need… I need some time to think.”


	35. Gay Panic, The Musical (Act One)

“Tonight’s the night!” Ilesha cried in excitement.

“Every Friday night is,” Akio said, voice monotone.

“It’s still important to celebrate the little things!” Ilesha cried.

“Is that what you say about Lavey and Crystal?” Mavros asked quietly.

“What’d you say?” Ilesha asked, her head tilting to the side.

Mavros almost repeated themself, but he saw a slight pink tint to her face, so they decided just to shake his head and smile knowingly.

“A-anyways!” Ilesha said, turning to her teammates and clapping her hands together. “You guys ready for movie night?!”

“Yeah!” Cooper cheered. “I **love** movie nights! What are we watching?!”

Ilesha grinned and swayed a bit back and forth, her hands hidden behind her back as she concealed the movies.

“It’s a surprise!” she said in a sing-song voice.

“Is the surprise that we don’t have to do it?” Akio asked, not looking up from his book.

Ilesha spun on him.

“Bitch I’ve heard you sing along to these movies on five seperate occasions! You **love** to sing, but for some damn reason you have to act like you’re above this whole thing! If you want to continue acting like you’re above it, then go ahead, but don’t bring us down.”

Akio stared at her in shock, his book tumbling from his grasp and onto the ground with a quiet thump.

Ilesha gestured her movies at the door aggressively.

“Go on! Get!” Ilesha snapped.

Akio just gaped for a moment.

“What the heck are you waiting for?! If you ‘don’t like to sing,’ then get the heck out of my dorm room.”

There was a long beat of silence before Akio closed his mouth and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“So… Lion King, huh?” he asked, glancing at the movies in her hand. “I… I like that one.”

Ilesha fought a smile that was trying to grow across her lips.

“Of course you do! Everyone loves this movie!” Ilesha said smugly, waving the movie around. “Now everyone get ready because we’re going to have a _Disney_ night!”

The four of them were singing along when the first song came up, Cooper warbling his way through the high notes despite being a… rather difficult singer to listen to.

Despite that, his teammates were very reassuring and nice to him about it.

They were about halfway through the movie, Akio, who had been singing at full volume during the movie, suddenly sat up.

“Pause it.”

“You know we don’t pause the movies, Kio,” Ilesha said with an eye roll. “We start watching the movies, and none of us leave until the marathon is over. It’s team bonding!”

“Well I just remembered that I left a bunch of my textbooks in team LAAC’s dorm room and I need them before tomorrow.”

“Well you can’t leave,” Ilesha said, still watching the movie intently.

“Fine! Uh… Mavros, can you send a message to someone in their dorm room and ask them to come bring it over?” Akio asked innocently.

Mavros held back a smirk.

“Of course.”

-

_Hey, bitch, Kio left his textbooks in your dorm room. Bring ‘em back here real quick. Also, bring Crystal, there’s a lot._

Lavey wanted to send something back, but this wasn’t Romy, which meant that she couldn’t send them back any messages.

She sighed. She’d have to go to team IMCA’s dorm room to tell him no anyways, so she supposed…

She had to go to team IMCA’s dorm room… and see Ilesha…

She fought a smile and a blush, shaking her head.

“Fine,” she muttered to herself.

This crush on Ilesha was getting annoying, definitely, and rather inconvenient, considering the fact that Ilesha had the unique ability to get under her skin and make her a stuttering mess. And Lavey tried **very** hard to be the cool, composed person she was, which meant that having someone be able to tear all of that away was terrifying.

But also, it made her feel weirdly giddy, which she tried to lock up in the darkest depths of her mind. It didn’t work.

She sighed and shook her head.

She pushed herself to her feet, stalking across the room and trying to hide her excitement.

“Come on, Cy.”

“What? Where are we going?”

Lavey went to the table and grabbed a pile of books, as many as she could carry.

“IMCA’s. Let’s go.”

Crystal flushed noticeably, which was also a problem that Lavey didn’t have time to get into and didn’t want to think about, and went to go grab the remaining books.

-

The pair walked in, and immediately Ilesha turned, eyes turning surprised and excited when she saw them.

“Lav! Cy!” she cried in excitement.

They both tried to ignore her.

“Hey,” Lavey said, her voice sounding weird to her ears. Did it always sound like that? She hoped not.

Crystal nodded toward Ilesha, probably not trusting herself not to say something stupid when Ilesha **and** Lavey were there.

“We brought the books for Kio.”

“Great! You can join us for the movie night too!” Ilesha said with excitement.

“N-no, we couldn’t impose, besides-”

Ilesha cut Lavey off with a pout and a sad look.

“Please?” she asked.

Crystal glanced at her, and she was already lost.

“Okay,” Crystal whispered.

Lavey gaped at her sister. She thought that Crystal would be able to reject her, but…

“Great!” Ilesha grabbed the books, tossed them haphazardly onto the table, then grabbed both of their hands and tugged them to the couch.

Said couch was small, considering there wasn’t that much room in the dorm, but the three were able to just squeeze in, considering Cooper, Akio, and Mavros were all seated on the floor. Earlier, Ilesha had wondered why they’d done that, but now she didn’t really care.

Both Lavey and Crystal were seated on either side of Ilesha, and the couch was causing them to be squished against her.

Both glanced at each other around her and shared a quick, embarrassed look.

A minute later, music started up, and Ilesha gasped in excitement.

“I’ve had this song stuck in my head for weeks!”

Ilesha hopped to her feet and tugged the other two behind her.

“Wh-what are we doing?” Crystal asked, as light flush on her neck that reached up her neck and onto her face.

“Dancing!”

“We are?!” Lavey cried, eyes wide.

“What, don’t want to dance with me?” Ilesha asked, grinning down at her.

Lavey and Crystal both hesitated, which caused Ilesha’s smile to drop some.

They both knew then that they couldn’t say anything to let that smile slip.

“Sure, why not?” Lavey asked, trying to sound confident. Instead, she sounded breathless.

Crystal just nodded, biting her lip.

The music started up.

“I can see what's happening,” Akio sang, staring at his sisters and Ilesha.

“What?” Cooper asked, frowning as he leaned closer to his friend.

“And they don't have a clue!” Akio continued.

“Who?” Cooper continued, leaning closer still.

“They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line,” Akio gestured at the three, “our trio's down to two!”

“Oh,” Cooper said, eyebrows furrowing as he watched the three, as if seeing them in a way they hadn’t before.

“The sweet caress of twilight,” Ilesha sang. She was currently dancing with Crystal, her arms settling on her hips. Crystal flushed and her hands floundered, hesitating as she thought. Ilesha giggled and pulled her hands off of Crystal.

Crystal immediately missed the touch, and suddenly Ilesha was grabbing her hands, gently reaching up and setting them on her shoulders.

“Do you not know how to dance?” Ilesha whispered.

Crystal shook her head.

“Don’t worry, just follow my lead.”

“There's magic everywhere,” Ilesha continued, leading them in a slow circle. Crystal stared up at her, heart pounding.

“And with all this romantic atmosphere,” Ilesha continued.

Crystal flushed. She had known Ilesha for a long time, Ilesha’s whole life actually, but she had never seen her like… this. She had been the person that tagged along behind, she made weird jokes, and she was always being… Crystal couldn’t describe it. But she had thought of Ilesha as a close friend, but now… now she was seeing her as everything she was, and it… Crystal flushed thinking about it.

“Disaster's in the air,” Akio sang. Ilesha’s hair had started to frizz up on the edges, buzzing with electricity like it often did when she was excited, the electricity building up inside of her and waiting for her to use it.

“Can you feel the love tonight?” Ilesha whisper-sang, reaching up and allowing Crystal to go under it. Crystal flushed and had to stop herself from agreeing with the song.

“The peace the evening brings,” Ilesha continued. Crystal was pulled closer to her friend, and Ilesha grinned down at her. Crystal flushed, or, well, she flushed more than she already had.

“The world for once in perfect harmony,” Ilesha sang, pulling Crystal even closer.

“With all its living things,” she sang lowly.

Crystal found her eyes fluttering shut, and she moved closer. She leaned a bit closer, going onto the tips of her toes subconsciously. She didn’t realize what she was doing, and she could see just a little bit from her mostly-closed eyes.

Behind Ilesha, unbeknownst to Crystal, Lavey took a deep breath, trying not to be too worried about Crystal, perhaps, kissing Ilesha.

Ilesha was staring down at Crystal, a faint blush on her face. Crystal was looking at her like she was about to… but she couldn’t be… no, Ilesha couldn’t be hoping for that again. Couldn’t let those old feelings bubble up again. She was already having to deal with…

Well, suffice it to say, she was already struggling with emotions, which she had thought she had gotten rid of, bubbling up again.

She pulled away from Crystal, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart and the way Crystal had looked at her.

Crystal felt her pull away, and suddenly realized what she had been trying to do. This caused her heart to hammer in her chest and her face to flush with embarrassment. She turned away from Ilesha as she moved toward Lavey.

“So many things to tell her,” Mavros sang quietly. He was sitting on the floor, Cooper leaned against his side. “But how to make her see? The truth about my past, impossible!” Mavros glanced at Cooper. “She'd turn away from me…”

“He's holding back, he's hiding,” Cooper sang. He was suddenly singing lower than before, and he sounded… good? “But what, I can't decide,” he continued, his voice sounding shockingly good. He was staring at Mavros, who was watching him with a look of shock. “Why won't he be the king I know he is? The king I see inside?”

Lavey flushed as Ilesha turned to face her, leaving a very flustered and upset Crystal in the background. Crystal was internally both cursing herself for missing the opportunity to kiss her and trying in the first place. SHe knew it was stupid to have tried, but she still wished that she could have. And she would have kissed her… but she couldn’t exactly reach Ilesha’s lips without crawling her like a tree.

Meanwhile, Lavey had her arms reached all the way up to loop around Ilesha’s neck, both of hers on Lavey’s hips.

“I love this song,” Ilesha muttered to herself. She didn’t take her eyes off of Lavey.

“Can you feel the love tonight?” Ilesha sang quietly.

Lavey almost nodded, but she stopped herself.

“The peace the evening brings,” Ilesha continued, reaching one hand up and bringing it to Lavey’s face.

“The world, for once, in perfect harmony,” all four members of team IMCA sang together. Ilesha tucked a bit of Lavey’s crimson hair behind her ear gently, causing Lavey’s face to match the shade of her own locks.

“With all its living things,” Ilesha sang, gently pulling Lavey closer to herself.

“Can you feel the love tonight?” Lavey nodded just a little, but she stopped herself just in time, causing Ilesha to send her an odd look as she sang. “You needn't look too far!” Lavey wondered how Ilesha could sing. She herself was far too breathless to be able to do so.

“Stealing through the night's uncertainties,” the four sang.

Lavey pulled closer and reached one of her hands up and rested it on Ilesha’s jacket, like she wanted to tug her forward so that she could… well, it was clear what she wanted to do.

Ilesha was staring down at Lavey, and for a moment she almost skipped a step. The music around her had just stopped, well, not literally, but she could hardly tell that it was still playing. Those feelings _were_ bubbling up again, and Ilesha had thought that she had gotten rid of those for good, but… 

“Love is where they are,” Akio, Cooper, and Mavros sang.

“And if she falls in love tonight,” Akio sang.

“It can be assumed,” Cooper continued.

“Her carefree days with us are history,” Mavros sang.

“In short, our pal is doomed,” the three sang.

Ilesha pulled away from Lavey, blushing again, and took a seat on the couch, not looking at them.

As the music came to a stop, the two girls were left staring at Ilesha with deep blushes.

“I can feel the love tonight,” they both sang quietly to themselves.

Perhaps **they** were the ones that were doomed.


	36. Gay Panic, The Musical (Part Two)

Ilesha had tears in her eyes, and she sniffled.

Crystal glanced to the side and frowned.

“Why are you crying?” she hissed.

Ilesha sniffled.

“I’m not. At least, not yet. I probably will.”

“Why?” Lavey asked, frowning in confusion.

“This movie always gets to me,” Ilesha said, wiping at her eyes.

They glanced at the movie, and they saw a bunch of cutlery dancing around and singing.

“How?” Crystal asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s just… it’s the perfect romance,” Ilesha said, her eyes filling with emotion. Both Lavey and Crystal flushed red.

“It’s Stockholm Syndrome, Il,” Akio called. “We’ve been over this.”

“It’s not Stockholm Syndrome, Akio!” she snapped in frustration.

Akio rolled his eyes.

“It definitely is. He kidnapped her, Il!”

“But romantically!” Ilesha cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

“You can’t romantically kidnap someone!”

“He did!”

“Don’t try this at home, kids,” Akio said.

“You’re just looking at me,” Cooper said, tilting his head to the side just a bit in confusion.

“Adorable,” Mavros said, throwing his hands up in the air.

Cooper giggled and rolled his eyes, turning back to the movie.

“It’s seriously the most romantic Disney movie  _ ever _ !” Ilesha hissed to Lavey and Crystal, giving both of them grins.

Lavey and Crystal both glanced at her and then looked away pointedly when they saw her excited expression.

-

“Oh, this is my favorite song!” Ilesha cried enthusiastically, sitting up straighter and bringing up both of her hands up to her mouth, like she was holding a microphone.

Akio tossed a hairbrush at Ilesha, who gave him a grin and started to sing into it.

“Tale as old as time,” she sang. Cooper sang along with her, taking the lower part. Mavros and Akio both glanced at him in shock, but Ilesha was distracted.

“True as it can be,” Ilesha sang, twisting in her seat to face Lavey with a small grin. “Barely even friends.”

Lavey, for just a moment, remembered the little kid that Ilesha had been. Over the summer, she had had a large growth spurt, but before she had only come up to about Lavey’s height (which was saying a lot), and her hair had looked constantly messy and scraggly. It wasn’t a shock that Lavey hadn’t paid much attention to the younger girl before.

“Then somebody bends… unexpectedly!”

Ilesha was on her feet now, and for a second the two sisters were worried that she was going to pull them up to dance with her, but she just laughed and started to dance on her own. She had clearly learned how to dance from her Aunt Ivy, considering she was surprisingly good at it.

“Just a little change,” Ilesha spun, and for a moment Crystal had an image of younger Ilesha. The girl hadn’t been able to dance at the time, a surprise now, considering she did so like she had come out of the womb dancing. But she had been…

Well, Ilesha had been clumsy to say the least. She would trip over thin air, and then go sprawling out on the carpet. Lavey and Crystal used to laugh every time, and Ilesha would break out into giggles and then say something weird about how she just hadn’t grown into her coordination.

At the time, it had been stupid to hear. But she’d been right.

“Small to say the least,” Ilesha continued, reaching down to the ground and grabbing onto Akio’s hands, tugging him up.

Akio flushed a bit, glancing at his sisters as if he was afraid to dance around them. But he noticed they were focused on Ilesha, so even if he was afraid to do so in front of them, he was sure that they wouldn’t notice. Akio led her through the same dance that was occurring on the screen, as if they had practiced this many times beforehand. It was likely they had.

“Both a little scared.”

Crystal and Lavey both watched Ilesha as she giggled and sang, ducking under Akio’s arm as he spun her in a circle. They both blushed and felt a bit worry filling them as they glanced at each other.

“Neither one prepared.”

Akio almost bumped into Ilesha, distracted by holding in laughter from his sister’s expressions, and Ilesha side stepped, making the movement look purposeful.

_ Son of a bitch, _ Crystal thought to herself, flushing as Ilesha looked over Akio’s shoulder at the pair.

“Beauty and the beast,” Cooper and Mavros sang together.

“Ever just the same,” Ilesha continued, “ever a surprise, ever as before, and ever just as sure as the sun will rise!”

Akio was singing the lower part, which wasn’t in the song, but the team had made up so that two could dance to it, and Ilesha’s higher pitched voice was perfect for the original voice.

“Tale as old as time,” Cooper sang, leaning over against Mavros and putting his head on his shoulder.

“Tune as old as song,” Mavros agreed.

“Bittersweet and strange,” Akio sang.

“Finding you can change.”

Crystal floundered as Ilesha sent her a wink from in front of Akio as he spun her again.

“Learning you were wrong.”

While Lavey watched Ilesha dance, she could hardly see any trace of the child she had once known, couldn't understand how she had ever been annoyed by the younger girl.

“Certain as the sun,” Cooper sang sagely.

“Rising in the east,” Mavros agreed.

“Tale as old as time,” Akio sang with a small shake of his head.

“Song as old as rhyme,” Ilesha sang.

“Beauty and the beast,” all four of them sang together.

Cooper, Akio, and Mavros were all trying to subtly stare at Lavey and Crystal, but it didn’t matter much if they made a scene about it, considering neither would have noticed anyways.

“Tale as old as time,” Akio sang.

“Song as old as rhyme,” Ilesha agreed as they pulled closer.

“Beauty and the beast,” Cooper sang in a deep voice.

“Beauty and the beast,” Mavros agreed with a small smile on his face.

Ilesha leaned closer to Akio and the two shared a small smile, and for just a moment, both Crystal and Lavey’s blood ran cold.

Finally, Ilesha let her head fall onto Akio’s chest with her eyes shut, the music coming to a halt.

“I love that song,” Ilesha whispered, looking up at Akio, who gave her the barest of grins.

“I know, you sing it all the time.”

Ilesha giggled and rolled her eyes.

“You’re always so  _ mean _ to me,” she said, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss on the nose before she hurried over to the microwave. “I’m going to make some more popcorn! Be back in a second!”

Crystal and Lavey both hesitated.

They both knew that the other girl liked Ilesha… but… did Akio like her too?

Finally, Lavey decided to speak.

“So, you and Ilesha-”

“I don’t like your crush, Lavey,” Akio said, not looking away from the screen.

Lavey instantly flushed.

“I-”

“Alright! I’m back!” Ilesha called, vaulting over the back of the couch and landing between the two sisters.

Lavey glanced to the side and saw that Crystal wasn’t looking at her, and Lavey sighed quietly, turning back to watch the movie.

-

Akio glanced at his sisters with a small sigh. He was trying to get the two to talk about Ilesha, but it didn’t seem like they were getting anywhere.

Despite their planning, Mavros and Akio hadn’t seemed to have done anything but make his sisters have gay panic. Well, he supposed that was worth it to watch, considering they both liked to pretend they were above that sort of stuff, but the plan hadn’t worked exactly how he had hoped.

_ / _

_ Akio glanced around team LAAC’s dorm room for a moment, making sure that none of his siblings were looking at him. _

_ He put the books down on the table and hurried out of the room with a smirk. _

_ He and Mavros had already planned this out, and they were hoping that someone would finally confess. _

_ Mavros had planned to tell Lavey and Crystal that they needed to come over, and Mavros had been replaying Disney songs in Ilesha’s head for weeks to get her to pick the most romantic movies. _

_ / _

Despite all of their planning, it hadn’t worked, and Akio was now stuck watching his sisters being gay idiots. Which was still funny, but… yeah.

-

Crystal and Lavey, when later asked, wouldn’t be able to say  **how** it had happened, considering they had both been on edge all night, but they were both asleep on the couch, leaned against Ilesha.

Ilesha glanced at them when the fourth movie ended, and she smiled fondly, leaning closer to her friends.

“Alright,” Ilesha whispered. “I’m going to take these two back to their dorm room and then we can call it a night. Be right back.”

Ilesha then grabbed Lavey and picked her up, cradling her in one arm. Lavey wasn’t heavy, considering that, despite her loud personality, she was still pretty tiny, and Ilesha could hold her aloft easily.

She then bent back down and grabbed Crystal in her other arm.

“Kio, you mind getting the door?” she whispered.

Akio nodded, looking a bit shocked that she had just picked both of them up, and held open the door for his team leader.

Ilesha stepped into the hall and pushed the team LAAC dorm room open, stepping inside.

-

Adolpha’s ear twitched when she heard the door open, and she opened one eye. Despite the darkness, she could see the other girl walking in, carrying two of her sisters.

Ilesha seemed to have not noticed that Adolpha had seen them, and she quietly walked through the room.

“Hey, hey, stay asleep,” Ilesha whispered gently, bouncing Lavey up and down in her arm gently as if she were some sort of small child.

Lavey shifted in her arm and made a quiet noise in her sleep, and Ilesha smiled down at her fondly.

Ilesha stepped past Adolpha, leaning down and placing Crystal on her bed before placing a kiss on her forehead.

After that, she stretched a bit and raised Lavey to about chest level and put her on the top bunk gently.

Lavey curled up closer to herself, pulling closer to the edge of the bed as if to move closer to Ilesha.

Ilesha giggled and placed a kiss on her forehead as well before pulling back and giving both girls one last fond look.

Adolpha closed her eyes as Ilesha walked past her to make sure that she didn’t notice she’d woken up.


	37. A Nice Conversation

Adolpha sat on the bed, slightly slumped over.

Jin reached over to set her hand on Adolpha’s leg, leaning closer.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been acting off for a few days, ever since your spar against team RSCC.”

Adolpha sighed and ran a hand through her hair, the idea already making her heart heavier.

“It’s… it’s nothing, Jin.”

“You’ve been avoiding Lavey.”

Adolpha met Jin’s gaze.

“More than usual, I mean,” Jin said, waving her hand dismissively.

“She… said some things.”

“She typically does. She’s quite the loudmouth.”

Adolpha didn’t remember Jin being this rude.

“Yeah, she is…,” Adolpha said slowly.

“I take it she said something in particular.”

“Well, yes.”

“And that was?”

Adolpha was, once again, shocked at Jin’s forwardness.

“Uh, well… she said something about me being a control freak…”

“You are.”

Adolpha looked up, stricken.

“What?!”

“You’re a bit of a control freak, Dolph. And I mean that in the most loving way possible.”

Adolpha looked away.

“She also said something about me not knowing who I am when I’m not a leader.”

“Well, do you?” Jin asked, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms against her chest and watching her older sister.

“What?” Adolpha asked, still watching her sister with wide eyes, wondering where her timid Jin had gone.

“Do you know who you are if you’re not a leader?” Jin asked, sounding rather frustrated at having to repeat herself.

“I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know the answer to that question, or you don’t know yourself?” Jin prompted.

“The answer.”

“Then figure it out.”

Adolpha stared at her, and Jin shrugged.

“Once you know the answer, then all your worries are gone, right?” Jin asked, shrugging.

“No, they’re not!” Adolpha snapped. “Not only will I not know myself, but also Lavey will be _right about something_ **again**!”

“You’re still mad about the end of the favors war?”

“Damn right I am! She can’t… she can’t just manipulate us like that!” Adolpha cried.

“But she could, and she did.”

Adolpha gaped at her sister.

“But that doesn’t mean she  **should** !”

“No, it doesn’t. But maybe you’re a bit more upset than you should be because you’re a control freak.”

Adolpha flinched.

“But what if she’s right?” she breathed. “What do I do if I don’t know who I am without being a leader?”

“If you don’t know who you are, you meet her, idiot,” Jin said with a wave of the hand.

Adolpha stared at her for a long moment.

What happened to her?! When had she become…

When had she become  _ this _ ?! Where had the sweet, innocent Jin gone to leave her with…

She couldn’t even put it into words.

“How do I do that?” Adolpha asked quietly.

She had never come to Jin for advice. She had never gone to  **_anyone_ ** for advice, because that’s not what leaders did. Leaders were supposed to be completely put together, they never made any mistakes.

“I don’t know, for me, it was getting the shit beat out of me by Ilesha and realizing how much of a failure I was. Then I snapped.”

“You… you what?”

“I snapped. I’m done.”

“With?”

“Gremlins.”

“Oh my Dust, what did they do to you?”

“A lot, but now-”

Jin cut herself off, eyes going wide as she looked up.

“I gotta go.”

“What?” Adolpha asked, eyes going wide. She was nowhere  _ near _ done with having this emotional conversation with Jin, and she had come to her specifically because Jin was sweet and never bailed on any of her siblings under any circumstances.

“I gotta go,” Jin said, pushing herself to her feet and almost shoving Adolpha to the floor in the process. Adolpha clung to the bed.

“Where? What? Why?”

“Gremlins.”

Adolpha frowned in confusion and Jin shook her head.

“I should have noticed earlier, but you distracted me.”

“From?”

“They cut me off,” Jin said, storming to the door.

“Cut you off from what?!” Adolpha cried.

The door  **slammed** open, and Jin raced out, not responding to her older sister’s question.

-

Jin was sprinting at full speed down the hallway.

She should have noticed earlier, damnit!

Romy had sneakily cut her out of the telepathic connection.

Jin burst into the library, eyes narrowing when they landed on Aella. She raced over and grabbed her sister by the cloak into the air.

Aella let out a yelp of shock, twisting around to look up at her sister with wide eyes.

“What did I do?” she asked.

“Where are they?”

“They’re, uh, I… I don’t know. They said they were going to the bathroom, but now…,” Aella’s eyes widened.

“What direction did they go?”

Aella pointed at the door, and suddenly there was a faint explosion

“Fuck!” Jin cried before racing off toward the direction of the sound, Aella thrown over her shoulder like a rucksack, having to leave her homework behind.

-

Adolpha jumped, the distant explosion loud to her ears.

What was going on with Jin?

And… was she right?

Was figuring out who you were that easy? Did she just have to have Ilesha beat the shit out of her and realize that she was a failure? Because she was halfway there.

Or was it an individual process that was different for everyone? She supposed that it was, considering the stories she had heard, but that meant that, also, she couldn’t speed up the process, which was frustrating as all things. And that also meant that she’d have to just wait it out, and the process was  **not** going to be fun.


	38. Leader Swap

“They’re perfect.”

“I know, I made them that way.”

“Can I keep them?” Rosemary asked.

“Heck no! They’re mine, and I’m loaning them to you for the week!” Ilesha snapped.

“You do know that we’re, like, right here, right?” Akio asked, frowning.

“Yeah, I’m aware, and you haven’t said anything up until this point because you’re the perfect team, cause I  **made** you that way. Now, I gotta go and fix this other team, because someone can’t control their little gremlins as well as I control you three.”

_ / _

_ Glynda was standing in front of the entire school, situated in front of a podium where she overlooked all of the students with a stern expression on her face. _

_ “This week, as many of you know,” she said, “is the fifth annual Leader Swap.” _

_ It had been instituted, as she had said, five years ago, at the suggestion of Weiss Belladonna-Schnee. _

_ It was a few minutes, after a lengthy explanation from the headmistress about the importance of this exercise that nobody but Cooper had listened to, when the leader swaps were announced. _

_ “Team leader Ilesha Ajax will go to team JARR. Team leader Jin will go to team LAAC. Team leader Rosemary will go to team IMCA. Team leader Lavey will go to team RSCC.” _

_ There were more names and team leaders that were exchanged, but none of them, nor any of you, cared about them. _

_ Adolpha grinned in excitement. She was finally going to have a team leader that was sensible! But… well, the last time she had talked to Jin had been rather… rude. But she was sure that Jin had just been having an off day, so of course it hadn’t been anything important. _

_ She glanced to the side and locked eyes with her sister, and she was met with a grin. _

_ Jin waved and Adolpha felt herself calm down slightly. Of course nothing was going wrong with  _ **_Jin_ ** _ of all people. They’d be fine. _

_ Meanwhile, Ilesha had on a smirk. Yes, this was going to be a great time for Ilesha to get some revenge on those little gremlins for what they did to Jinny. This… was going to be great! _

_ Ilesha turned to face her temporary team and offered them a wide grin, which they all reciprocated. _

_ Lavey was glancing over at team RSCC for a moment and considered before nodding, smiling. _

_ Finally, Rosemary stared over at team IMCA, and for a moment she looked at them worriedly. When they all smiled and waved, Mavros slowly and almost creepily, she smiled for a moment before looking back at her own team with concern. She had heard a lot about team IMCA, and she could see all of the people that were looking at her with jealousy. It was seriously weird that so many people were interested in Ilesha, considering she had grown up with the younger girl and she had never been this good with people before. Must be the Alea in her that helped with the charisma. _

_ Rosemary glanced over at Crystal and Lavey for a moment and saw them looking over. That was still weird. Rosemary could remember Ilesha trailing along behind them, and neither of the two sisters had spared her a glance, so it was confusing to see them both following her with their gazes like lost puppies while Ilesha didn’t seem to notice. _

_ This… was going to be an interesting week. _

_ / _

“So… what do you guys typically do around here?” Rosemary asked, glancing at her temporary teammates.

“This,” Akio said, not looking up from his book as he answered.

“What?” Rosemary asked.

“What we’re doing. Except we usually have dance practice in about half an hour.”

“You have dance practice?” Rosemary asked with wide eyes and clear disbelief.

“Yeah, everyday. Ilesha  _ really _ likes her music,” Akio said.

“You do too,” Cooper said, leaning over and poking Akio in the face.

Akio didn’t react, and Cooper was about to do so again, but Akio teleported before he had the chance, appearing on his bed and turning a page as if nothing had changed in the slightest.

Cooper pouted, but Akio didn’t look up.

“And you just… practice dancing and singing without sparring?” Rosemary asked.

Mavros shrugged.

“Yeah,” Akio said.

“How are you so good at fighting?!” she cried in disbelief, remembering the countless sparring lessons that the team had won.

“Uh… I think it’s because we’re, like, the only ones in this whole school that have our shit together. I mean, Adolpha won’t listen to a word that Lavey says, Jin took forever to gain control of her team, and then we’re just… we’re pretty awesome,” Akio said. He glanced up, flushed a light shade of pink when he saw Rosemary watching him, and then moved back to the book in his hands.

Suddenly, Rosemary heard whispering, and she looked over to find Cooper looking at his boombox.

“What’s he doing?”

Before she had finished asking Mavros what was going on, Cooper had finished speaking, and the music was starting up.

“Are you playing the cover or the original?” Akio asked.

“Cover.”

“Good, it’s better.”

“That’s your opinion,” Mavros siad, rolling his eyes. “I happen to like the original Livin’ La Vida Loca.”

“Then you have shit taste, man.”

“Back me up, Coop.”

“I have to go with Akio on this one, sorry!”

“Betrayal.”

“I’m sorry, but are you arguing about music right now?” Rosemary asked.

All three members of the team looked up at her and then glanced around, considering.

“Uh, yeah,” Mavros said, shrugging.

“But I thought you… I thought that  **Ilesha** made you like this!” Rosemary cried. “Are you seriously all this crazy?!”

Akio’s eyes widened as if in realization.

“Oh shit,” he muttered. “I am. I was just arguing about music. Oh my Dust, Ilesha rubbed off on me. How did she do this?!”

“She’s persistent, man,” Mavros said with an eye roll. “Remember that time she made you watch all eight Harry Potter movies because you’d never seen any of them?”

“Yeah. I said I didn’t want to, but she  _ sat on my back _ until we’d marathoned them all. Best movie series I’ve ever seen.”

“So she just… she just wore you all down?” Rosemary asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah,” Cooper said.

“Oh my Dust,” Akio muttered, as if to himself, “she made me like music. She made me like to dance  **and** sing! How did this happen?!”

Cooper reached over and set his hand on Akio’s head.

“There, there,” he said, patting it to the words.

Akio was just staring at the wall blankly.

Rosemary was watching the three of them with wide eyes.

How did this team function?!

-

Lavey took a deep, calming breath. She was supposed to be in charge of team RSCC for the week, and she… wasn’t entirely sure how it was going to go.

Team RSCC had kind of disappeared from her sights for a few weeks, she supposed that she had gotten busy, and now she was rather worried about having to be in charge of them.

Despite her fears, she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders and readied herself. It was time to go in there and show them who was boss.

-

Jin stepped into team LAAC’s dorm room, glancing around.

Adolpha was saying something to her, but she had immediately forgotten when she saw the room.

“What’s wrong with you people?!” Jin cried.

Auburn, Crystal, and Adolpha stopped, staring at her with wide eyes.

“W-what?” Adolpha asked with a small frown.

“The bunk beds! Fix them!” Jin snapped.

Auburn had already jumped to do so, though he didn’t seem to know how, and Crystal was moving slowly to help, though she looked slightly confused as to why she was doing so.

Adolpha just stared at Jin.

“Seriously, I can’t believe this is the bunk beds you come up with! I expected better from you, Dolph! Aren’t you supposed to be the level headed one?!”

Adolpha started to curl in on herself for a moment, as if her parents were yelling at her, before remembering it was her  _ little sister _ that was bossing her around, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

Jin’s didn’t seem to react, still pointing at the bunk beds like she was counting in her head how long it was going to take Adolpha to listen to her instructions.

Jin started to tap her foot in frustration, and Adolpha found herself moving to do as told.

_ This is just because I don’t like those bunk beds anyways, _ she thought to herself.

Though… she guessed that angry Jin could be a  **bit** scary.

To other people, that is. Not she herself.

She had grown up with Jin, after all, and the younger girl had been at her side the whole time. She wasn’t going to  _ actually  _ be scared of Jin.

Because… it would be silly to be scared of her little sister. Jin was a  _ sweetheart _ who never said  **anything** negative about anyone else.

And yet… when Jin looked at her like that, all she could see was the Weiss in her.

-

Ilesha walked into the team JARR dorm room and grinned at her temporary teammates.

“Oh, this is going to be  _ so much _ fun!” Ilesha cried, clapping her hands together in excitement.

Aella, Romy, and Romelle all exchanged grins in excitement as they watched Ilesha take in the room, moving around it for a moment and analyzing things.

Ilesha suddenly looked down at her wrist as if to check the time, then giggled when she realized she didn’t have a watch.

She then pulled out her scroll and checked the time, her eyes widening.

“Oh my Dust! I just realized that we’re already behind schedule!” Ilesha cried.

“There’s a schedule?” Romy asked, raising an eyebrow as if she didn’t believe it.

“Yes! And right now it’s dance o’clock!”

“You want us to… dance?” Romy asked with incredulity.

Ilesha’s smile turned a bit different, and it sent a shiver down all three of their spines.

“I don’t want you to dance, you’re  _ going _ to dance, and there will be no questions about it!” Ilesha said happily, trying on her scroll and started to type on it, finding a particular song.

“Yeah, we’re not doing that, we don’t dance,” Romy said with a small glare.

Ilesha raised one hand without seeming to pay attention, her fingers forming a gun shape.

“Pew!” she cried.

Romy cried out in shock and pain as a bolt of electricity shot toward her, striking her in the stomach.

“Ow! What was that for?!” she cried.

Ilesha looked up from her scroll and smiled. It still looked a bit off.

“I  _ know _ the horror that you put Jinny through, because you’re little goblins. So, as a favor to, and maybe an apology for beating her up so easily, I’m going to have you three trained nice and well for her when she gets back!” Ilesha said. She then giggled and looked back at her scroll.

“You can’t train us like animals,” Aella piped up.

Ilesha didn’t look up, her hand reaching down to her hip and grabbing her shmazer.

In one fluid movement, almost impossible to watch, she raised it, pointed it at Aella, and pulled a trigger.

Maise shot out of the end, hitting Aella in the face, and she let out a cry of shock, recoiling and holding her face.

Ilesha rolled her eyes, her voice suddenly deepening.

“I’m a nice person typically when I talk to people. But you’re not people, you’re little goblins that I need to teach proper manners for Jin. Now, let’s start from the top!”

She tossed her scroll onto Jin’s normal bed and then turned to face her new teammates with her regular smile.

She started to show them the first few steps before Romy stopped.

“This really has no purpose-”

Ilesha put her hand on her hip, pushing her jacket back.

Romy hesitated, her eyes darting down and landing on the shmazer, which had been revealed when she had moved her jacket.

Romy swallowed, glancing at her teammates.

_ This girl’s crazy! _ Romy thought.

_ It’ll only be a week, it can’t be that bad,  _ Romelle thought back.

_ You’re not the one that got tased! _ Romy cried.

_ I got  _ **_maised_ ** _! _ Aella chimed in as they started to watch the dance moves, paying close attention in case Ilesha suddenly decided they weren’t doing so and deemed the shmazer necessary.

_ Y’all are just weak ass bitches, _ Romelle thought.

Romy missed a step, glancing at her sister, who had on a small glare.

Why is she being so hostile? She had today, ever since the lunch they’d spent with team LAAC, and Romy couldn’t figure out why.

Romelle hid the thoughts from her view, though Romy couldn’t tell that she had.

This was… going to be a long week.


	39. Missing Persons

The IMCA dorm room was uncomfortably silent, save for the sound of Akio tapping his foot against the floor rhythmically. Cooper glanced up at him and began to hum lowly. After their movie night two days before, the team had realized that Cooper was a horrible singer not because he couldn’t sing, but because he wasn’t the tenor that his teammates had assumed. He was, instead, a bass, whose voice could make the walls shake around him when he did so. Mavros was tapping his finger against the armrest at his side.

Akio looked at his watch, and it made his brain hurt some. It was five minutes past the time they typically started their hour of dance practice, and it was oddly infuriating that he didn’t hear music.

He was used to living in a room with the constant background noise, specifically music, and now it felt… empty. Like there was something that was missing in the room.

“Oh my Dust!” Rosemary snapped, slamming her hand down on the chair. “If you want to do your dance practice, I’m not going to stop you!”

“We don’t want to!” Akio defended quickly. “That’s Ilesha’s thing.”

“Yeah,” Mavros agreed.

Cooper nodded, though he looked sad.

“I’m not going to judge you, ya know. I’m just not going to join you. So if you want to dance, then go for it.”

There was a long moment of silence, and the three tried to subtly look at each other.

“I’m starting the music,” Cooper said.

“Today is playlist B,” Mavros said immediately, pushing himself to his feet.

“We’re starting ten minutes late, have to go that much extra,” Akio called, hopping up and stretching a bit before getting into position.

Rosemary watched her temporary teammates for a long moment, brows furrowing.

She could have sworn that she had never heard Akio sing, nor seen him dance, and Cooper had been the most uncoordinated and horrible singer she had ever heard when they were younger.

But as the music started up, the two of them were in perfect sync with their third teammate, their singing impressive and-

Akio turned and held his arms out for someone, but there was nobody there, and he frowned. He turned back around, off beat, and bumped into Cooper, who then fell against Mavros, causing all three of them to stop singing.

They might have been perfectly in sync, but they were clearly missing someone.

-

Adolpha pushed open the door, and suddenly Jin’s head whipped around.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jin asked immediately.

Adolpha jumped in shock, turning around to look at her sister, trying not to let a bit of her misplaced fear show in her eyes.

“Library.”

“Why?”

“I need to study.”

“Nice try, you can study here with Auburn and Crystal.”

“There’s a book I want to check out.”

“No there’s not,” Jin said with an eye roll, “you’re going there because Ilesha took her team to the library fifteen minutes ago.”

Adolpha didn’t know how Jin had heard that, considering it had been quiet enough that Adolpha had barely been able to hear it herself with her wolf ears.

“No I’m not,” Adolpha lied.

“You want to see Romy,” Jin said, not looking at her sister as she said the words.

Adolpha flushed.

“You’re not going to the library.”

Adolpha glanced at her with the smallest of frowns, though her hand stilled before it touched the door handle.

“Why not?”

“We’re going to do a team study session.”

Adolpha considered for a long moment before she sighed and shook her head, pulling away from the door.

She didn’t want to listen to her, but she was the team leader… and it was difficult to say no to Jin when she sounded just so damn sure of herself.

Adolpha felt her skin crawl for a moment.

Before, when she had been a leader (the loss of that still sent a pang through her heart), she had never sounded that commanding.

Had that been what Jin had been referring to when she had talked about finding yourself?

Adolpha had to assume so, considering this was a different Jin than she had known at the beginning of the school year.

-

Aella glanced around the room.

Ilesha had stepped outside a little while ago, saying something about going to check on team IMCA, and now Aella had the perfect chance to sneak out.

She thought that if she went through the vents, she could find team LAAC’s room again, she went there quite often to talk to Lavey through the ventilation, and ask Jin for her help controlling Ilesha.

Aella hopped into the vents and used a bit of air, via her Semblance, to float without touching the bottom. She didn’t want to go banging through the vents randomly, so she had decided that she would just use an old trick she’d had before Lavey had claimed the vents as her own.

Aella was about to make another turn, but she stopped short as the vents suddenly opened, and a face popped inside.

“Hey, Aella, what a coincidence seeing you here, considering you were supposed to be back in the dorm room,” Ilesha said.

Aella screamed.

Ilesha had stuck her head through a vent door on Aella’s path, and she had, honestly, not expected it in the slightest.

Ilesha reached her hand out and grabbed onto Aella’s arm, tugging her out of the ventilation, while the Faunus cried out in shock.

When Ilesha tugged her out of the vents, Aella cried out and squirmed, but a shock was sent through her.

“Oops!” Ilesha giggled. “Looks like I got too much static electricity built up! Too bad.”

Aella was suddenly wrapped in Ilesha’s tight grasp, pulling the sugar glider Faunus into her arms and walking toward their dorm room.

As they went, small electrical zaps were sent through Aella randomly, causing her to jump.

Yeah, so… Ilesha might not have been as easy to handle as the three had originally thought, and she already found herself missing Jin.


	40. Energy Drinks

Jin was in a deep sleep when she heard the subtle creak of a door down the hallway. It wasn’t as loud as it typically was, though that was probably because she was in a different dorm room from usual.

Despite being in team LAAC’s dorm room, and in charge of different students, Jin already found herself pushing to her feet and walking off to the door.

She pushed it open, slightly unnerved by the lack of creaking. Her own team’s dorm had a  _ very _ creaky door, which her teammates thought was an accident. It wasn’t.

Jin, once she had had her awakening as a team leader, had made the door purposefully creaky so that she could hear it open if any of her gremlins were trying to escape at night. It had let her catch several of them trying to sneak out both in the morning and at night.

That meant that when she heard the creaking, she immediately had the urge to check who had left. She would guess it was Romy, though it was possible it was Aella going to do something stupid. Perhaps Romy and Romelle had snuck out to do something together, which was always likely.

Jin stepped quietly through the hallway, doing her best not to make any loud sound and alert people of her presence.

She finally reached the JARR team dorm room, and she was about to look inside to see who was still asleep.

Before she had the chance to do so, she heard the sound of footsteps, causing her head to whip around and look down the hallway.

Ilesha stood there, eyes wide as she stared at Jin. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. In her arms, she had a pile of snacks, ranging from chips to the sandwich, which was held in a ziploc bag that was in her mouth.

There was a long moment of silence as Jin stared at Ilesha in shock.

Ilesha then cleared her throat, quietly, and spoke.

“Midnight snack,” Ilesha said, though it hardly sounded like the original words, considering the fact that she was holding the sandwich bag in her mouth.

Jin took a moment before she started to laugh, holding her hand over her mouth in an attempt to silence it.

Ilesha began to giggle, crouching down and setting her food on the ground so that she could take the sandwich bag out of her mouth.

“So uh… what brings you to this dorm room?” Ilesha asked, giving Jin a small smile.

“Heard the door creak.”

Ilesha raised an eyebrow.

“So you decided to investigate me getting a midnight snack?” Ilesha asked.

“I didn’t know it was you, obviously. I thought it was one of my gremlins.”

“So you made the door creaky on purpose?”

“Yeah.”

Ilesha broke into a grin and shook her head.

“That’s awesome.”

Jin laughed quietly, shrugging.

“I mean… I guess it’s pretty cool.”

Jin watched Ilesha with a small sense of worry, as if she thought that Ilesha was going to use her shmazer on her again.

Ilesha just giggled and rolled her eyes at the action, reaching one hand down to her hip.

“It’s not on me, see? I left it in the room. Didn’t want to accidentally shmazer someone sneaking up on me.”

Jin stared at her.

Ilesha crouched down next to her food, rifling through it.

“Want some chips?” she offered.

Jin considered for a long moment. Did she want to have a seat and eat some midnight snacks with the woman who had tased and maised her?

It would be a better idea to go to bed, forget this entire misadventure, and get some sleep.

Instead, Jin crouched down and took a seat, reaching over and grabbing a bag of chips, which she opened quietly.

Ilesha shoved her food into her mouth.

“So, how’s your new team doing?” Ilesha asked through a mouthful of food.

“They’re fine, I guess. Think Adolpha’s scared of me.”

Ilesha raised an eyebrow.

“What? Why? I thought you two were close.”

“We are, it’s just… things are different now.”

Ilesha nodded, shoving a few more chips into her mouth as she thought.

“I get that.”

“How are my little gremlins treating you? Do I need to do something to help?”

Ilesha giggled.

“No, they’ve been great!”

Jin stared at her in disbelief.

“What? I’m a  _ great _ team leader! I’ll have them in tip top shape for you when you get back!”

Jin raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not doubting that you’re a great team leader, it’s just that…”

“Your team is filled with goblins. No, I get it. I’m handling them, and you really won’t have to worry about them when you get back! I’m making sure of it!”

“What do you mean?” Jin asked, frowning in confusion.

“They were mean to you,” Ilesha shrugged, “made you feel like a bad team leader. So I’m fixing them for you!”

Jin gaped.

“Fixing them?”

“Yup! They’re going to be great little angels when you get back! I promise, Jinny!”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Jin all but demanded.

Ilesha, for the first time, looked rather awkward.

“I dunno. I mean, you were always nice to me and stuff when we were younger, so I just thought that I’d return the favor.”

Jin stared at her, and Ilesha looked like she was about to make an awkward excuse to leave, but suddenly Jin launched forward and pulled Ilesha in for a tight hug, squeezing her harshly.

“Thanks, Ilesha, I needed that.”

Ilesha reached over and patted her back rather awkwardly.

“Uh, no problem, Jinny.”

“I’ll let you continue what you’re doing, but after this week, if you ever hurt my gremlins again, I’ll be forced to kill you.”

Ilesha giggled as they pulled back.

“Well, that might be a bit difficult, considering I beat you up twice already. You’ll have to step it up quite a bit.”

Jin gasped in offense, but she saw the playful grin on Ilesha’s face, and she had trouble being mad at her.

“Hey, you cheated with that shmazer. Plus, I didn’t know your Semblance!”

“Excuses, excuses,” Ilseha said with a shake of the head.

“Not excuses! Reasons!” Jin hissed, aware that most people nearby were still asleep.

Ilesha giggled again and rolled her eyes.

“Sure.”

The two talked for a long while into the night, and soon all of the snacks were already gone.

Suddenly, Jin glanced at the time.

“Oh Dust,” Jin muttered. “It’s almost five.”

“We talked all night?” Ilesha grinned. “That’s awesome.”

“Not awesome, we have teams to take care of.”

“Don’t worry, I know what to do,” Ilesha said, standing up and stretching her back to pop it. “Be right back!”

Ilesha walked off down the hall, leaving Jin alone in the silent hallway. She was gone for a minute, which caused Jin to worry that she was leaving her here alone for people to realize she had stayed up all night eating snacks… alone.

Then, Ilesha came all but skipping back over, carrying… two cases of energy drinks.

“What?” Jin asked.

“I got energy drinks! They’re  _ great _ !” Ilesha whispered, plopping down beside her friend and grabbing two drinks.

She passed one over to Jin before opening hers.

“I can’t drink a whole case of this stuff!” Jin hissed.

“A whole case?” Ilesha asked. She laughed before she tilted her head back, chugging the entirety of the first energy drink. “I got two cases for me, and I’m letting you have one!” she said once she’d finished.

“How do you drink so much of this stuff?” Jin asked, sniffing her drink as if she didn’t trust it.

Ilesha put down the empty can and grabbed another one, popping it open.

“They have electrolytes in them!” Ilesha said happily, downing another one.

“What does that have to do with you downing them like a monster?” Jin asked.

“Electrolytes,” Ilesha put down her empty can, “have electricity in them,” she grabbed another drink, “which means that they can charge my Semblance and let me get energy!”

Jin gaped at her, and Ilesha giggled.

“How does this help with us acting natural?” Jin finally asked.

“It’s simple!” Ilesha said. She downed the entirety of another drink, Jin losing count of how many that was. “We just take them for a 5am morning run!”

Jin stared at Ilesha with disbelief, and she giggled.

“It gives us an excuse to go to sleep early tonight too! Duh!”

Ilesha downed another drink while Jin watched her with awe.

“If my sisters weren’t practically in love with you,” she whispered.

“Hmm?” Ilesha asked, putting down another drink.

“Nothing,” Jin said, shaking her head. “But that’s… genius.”

“Thank you!”

Ilesha reached out and shoved all of her trash into a pile before hiding it in her pocket. She downed another energy drink before she raised her hand and set it on the wall next to the outlet. A minute later, the lights in the hallways  _ blared _ , causing Jin to jump and cover her eyes.

“Wake up, it’s already five!” Ilesha shouted, banging her fist on her team’s dorm room.

She sent a wink at Jin, gesturing for her to hurry back to her own dorm room.

Jin ran to do so, shoving the empty energy drink can into her pocket and reminding herself to throw it away the first chance she got.

“You heard her!” Jin called, throwing the door open. “Morning run! I want you all ready in five minutes flat!”

“I expect three!” Ilesha shouted, sending Jin a smirk and a wink before she threw her trash out in the can at the door.

-

Jin and Ilesha were running at the front of the pack, sending each other grins as their teammates stumbled and almost fell asleep on their feet.

When they were finished, everyone but Jin and Ilesha were slumped over on the ground.

Adolpha was laying on her back, staring up at the sky. Crystal had fallen asleep and had curled up in a ball. The twins were slumped against each other, holding onto their sister as if for dear life. Auburn had fallen a hundred yards from the finish line and hadn’t finished yet. Aella was only alive because she had used her Semblance to give her a boost running.

Ilesha and Jin shared a smirk, and Ilesha made her new best friend stand in front of her so that she could down another energy drink without anyone watching.

Suffice it to say, when night fell, all of their teammates were more than willing to go to sleep early, letting the two team leaders get the sleep they desperately needed.


	41. First Loss

The room was silent as everyone took their tests.

Team LAAC was seated together, and Adolpha was awkwardly glancing around the room. She was seated beside Jin, and she was trying not to be obvious that she was looking for someone.

_ Dear Dust, I never thought that I would be missing  _ **_Lavey_ ** _ as team leader. Where is she?! I haven’t seen her in classes since she went to her new team. _

Jin tapped her hand on the table, and Adolpha jumped, glancing over at her.

Jin glared darkly and gestured at the test in front of Adolpha, clearly telling her to keep her eyes on her paper.

Adolpha hurried to do as told.

Where was Lavey?! Where was  **Adolpha** ?! In some alternate dimension?! A dimension where Jin was the most intimidating person in the world?!

Meanwhile, Ilesha was humming to herself while she took her test. She had headphones on, and she looked lost to the world as she danced and answered questions haphazardly.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and shot up, landing directly on her temporary teammates.

Romy, Romelle, and Aella were all sitting silently, taking their tests diligently.

There was something wrong about that…

Ilesha suddenly yanked her headphones out and stood up, eyes flashing dangerously.

“Stop cheating!” she shouted at top volume.

Her teammates all jumped and looked at Ilesha with disbelieving, wide eyes.

Everyone had stopped writing, and even the teachers, Pyrrha and Velvet, were watching her with confusion.

“They’re cheating through the use of Romy’s Semblance!” Ilesha called.

“How did you even fucking know?!” Romy hissed.

“See?! They admitted it!” Ilesha cried.

Romy’s face drained of color, and she was watching Ilesha in horror.

Romy looked around the room for help, her gaze landing on Adolpha.

Adolpha looked conflicted for a moment before she sighed and turned back to her test.

Pyrrha and Velvet exchanged a look before Pyrrha walked over to the trio, leading them out of the room.

“Hey, wait, Romelle wasn’t cheating,” Ilesha said with a small smile toward the younger twin.

Romelle let out a sigh of relief, taking her seat again.

Meanwhile, Adolpha was watching the two twins out of the corner of her eyes, and she couldn’t believe that Romy had tried to cheat on her test! At least Romelle hadn’t helped her.

Jin shook her head and sighed, watching two of her teammates go with a suffering look on her face, as if she knew this sort of thing would happen, but was still disappointed.

-

Two teams, JARR and IMCA, were both in the sparring room, both glaring daggers at one another.

Akio and Cooper exchanged a quick look.

Team IMCA had been rather… off ever since their team leader had been stolen from them.

Their dance practices had been awkward, and they kept running into one another. Their sparring had been subpar.

They weren’t sure exactly what was going on. Sure, Ilesha was gone, and that was obviously why things were different, but they couldn’t figure out what she did that changed the dynamics of the team so drastically.

The only reason they had agreed to spar against team JARR had been because they had wanted to see Ilesha again, considering their typical team leader had been avoiding them.

Now, Ilesha was standing in front of them, seeming as if she had never seen her beloved teammates in her life.

There was a silent conversation that was going on in the minds of team JARR, and Ilesha suddenly put her hand on her shmazer.

“You guys ready?” Ilesha called.

Team IMCA, plus Rosemary, all hesitated at the question, glancing at one another. They didn’t like the look of their usual team leader’s weapon.

Cooper had left the boombox in their dorm room, and he just realized this, eyes going wide as he glanced at his teammates.

“Yes,” Rosemary said, not seeming to realize that her team was missing an important part of their battle strategy.

“Great! Let’s get started.”

Immediately, Ilesha shot forward at full speed, her hair crackling with electricity and darting toward the closest team member.

Rosemary raised her weapon and took a subconscious step backward.

Suddenly, about ten feet away, Ilesha skidded to a stop.

Rosemary was confused, but Mavros, Cooper, and Akio all screamed for her to get out of the way.

Before Rosemary could do as she was being told, Ilesha whipped her shmazer off of her hip and pressed a button on the side.

Immediately, the shank shot out, striking Rosemary in the leg.

Ilesha shot electricity through the wires, powered by her Semblance, and Rosemary cried out, falling to the ground.

Immediately, Aella shot forward, being directed by Ilesha, and swooped down, grabbing Rosemary and lifting her into the air. The shmazer detached, and the shank shot back to Ilesha’s weapon.

Aella dropped Rosemary from near the ceiling, letting her fall on top of a shocked Cooper.

Akio teleported over, trying to help both of his teammates out, but Ilesha had already directed Romelle.

Romelle had snuck up to where Cooper was standing, and now she sent out a kick, causing Akio to go falling on top of his teammates in a pile of limbs.

Romy, meanwhile, was using her weapon to drive Mavros back toward his teammates, Romelle hurrying over to help him out.

Ilesha held both of her arms out into the air, and Aella swept down, grabbing onto her hands and lifting her high into the sky.

While Romy and Romelle corralled the four team members together, Ilesha reached her hand up to the ceiling and touched the lightbulb.

Immediately, the lights flickered and fizzed out.

Electricity shot into Ilesha, and she knew with certainty that she had just caused a blackout.

Cooper slipped his night vision goggles on, but Akio was lost in the darkness, meaning that he couldn’t teleport, considering he couldn’t see his destination and therefore couldn’t go anywhere.

He bumped into Rosemary, and Romelle tripped Mavros, causing him to go falling backward and hit Cooper.

The reason that the two twins moved with certainty in the dark room was because Aella was sending them mental pictures of everyone’s movements, as she was the only Faunus on the team.

Ilesha smirked as she got another mental image.

All of her usual teammates were in a pile on the ground, and that meant they were ready to take them out.

_ Get back, _ Ilesha thought.

The two twins scrambled backwards, and Aella let her go.

As Ilesha fell, she grabbed her shmazer and raised it, pointing at Rosemary. Ilesha let all of the electricity she had built up course through her and the wires, striking her teammates when the shank landed.

The energy that Ilesha had built up was… well, let’s just say, she hadn’t just taken all of the school’s electricity, but had also downed an entire case of energy drinks on her way in.

She felt Aella’s arms wrap around her waist and she slowly took the two of them down to the ground.

Ilesha knew with certainty that none of them would be getting back up after this, which meant that her team had won!

She tried not to feel bad about demolishing the entirety of her typical team, but it was easy to distract herself with her victory.


	42. Last Day

“This makes no damn sense.”

“Thank you, I get that a lot.”

“Seriously, were you the one that was cheating?!” Romy shouted, gesturing at her temporary team leader.

“Nope!” Ilesha said, grinning. “That’s just how my grades are. You know this, don’t you?”

“Clearly we don’t!” Aella cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Well, It’s not like I’m  _ stupid _ ! This really shouldn’t be a shock.”

“Wait, can I take a picture of that?” Aella asked.

Romy glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

“For?”

“Yeah, you know who,” Aella said, taking out her scroll and taking a picture of the grades that had been returned for their tests. She marked out her own while editing the picture, and then sent it to Crystal and Lavey. Separately, that is. She didn’t exactly want them to start fighting over text on her scroll.

To both, she said the same thing.

**Aella:** _Looks like your girlfriend’s pretty damn smart, huh?_

They both responded, but Aella didn’t look at what they said, putting her scroll in her pocket.

“What’s wrong with my grade?” Ilesha asked, sounding a little defensive suddenly.

“Wrong with it?!” Romy cried. “Of course there’s nothing wrong with it! You got a perfect score!  **Nobody** got a perfect score.”

“Well, someone got a perfect score, because  _ I _ got a perfect score,” Ilesha said, shrugging. She had the slightest hint of a smug smirk on her face.

“Unbelievable. This is unbelievable!” Romy cried. “I have a genius on my team, but all she does is eat cardboard!”

“That happened one time when I was ten.”

“You still  _ ate cardboard, Ilesha _ .”

“Yeah, well, I also got a perfect score, so I guess that evens it out.”

“It definitely doesn’t.”

Ilesha rolled her eyes, reaching forward to snatch the paper with their grades on it.

They… weren’t great.

-

The shower was on, and Adolpha was sitting down on the floor, letting the water wash over her.

She stared up at the ceiling sufferingly.

_ And I thought that Lavey was a strict team leader. How does Aella survive  _ **_Jin_ ** _ of all people?! _

There was the sound of a fist pounding against the door.

“Adolpha, hurry up!” Jin called. “You’re been in there for fifteen minutes!”

Adolpha curled up closer to herself, ignoring the voice and letting out a sigh.

Even Jin had changed as a person, had figured out who she was supposed to be.

And Adolpha was still… she was still the same person she was, and she still didn’t know who that was.

She finally sighed and pushed herself to her feet, knowing that if she took too long, she would throw the door open and storm open.

Adolpha never thought she would get to this point, missing Lavey over Jin. This year… it had been a lot for poor Adolpha, and the semester wasn’t even over yet. They still had the Vytal Tournament the week after next, and she wasn’t sure that she was ready to get beaten up in another fight because of Lavey’s instructions.

Suffice it to say, Adolpha was more than a little overwhelmed.

-

“Isn’t it dance hour?” Rosemary asked, glancing down at her watch.

“Does it matter anymore?” Akio asked, staring up at the ceiling sadly.

“Nothing matters,” Mavros muttered.

“All around me are familiar faces,” Cooper sang in his low, bass voice. He looked over toward the side of the room where Ilesha’s bed was. It was untouched for the past three days, and Rosemary had been sleeping on the ground.

“Worn out places, worn out faces,” Akio joined in. Ilesha’s bed had been turned into a shrine, and nobody was allowed to touch any of her things.

Rosemary stared at them for a long moment of disbelief at having heard them all burst out singing. She slowly reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out her scroll, recording the scene.

“Bright and early for their daily races,” Mavros sang quietly.

They didn’t sing how they usually did, and their voices were slightly cracking as if from tears.

“Going nowhere, going nowhere,” Cooper sang, missing a word as he hiccuped, wiping at her eyes.

“Their tears are filling up their glasses,” Akio continued.

“No expression, no expression,” Mavros sang. He reached out and pulled a crying Cooper into his arms.

“Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow,” Cooper sang into Mavros’ chest, sniffling.

“No tomorrow, no tomorrow,” all three sang together.

Rosemary thought they were done.

They weren’t.

“And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad,” Akio sang.

“The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had,” Mavros sang, holding back tears.

“I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take,” Cooper sang.

“When people run in circles it's a very very,” Akio sang.

“Mad world, mad world,” they all sang together.

Rosemary saw them getting ready to do the next verse, and she rolled her eyes.

“Alright, damnit, I can’t take this anymore, everyone shut up. She’s been gone for six days, you’ll have her back tomorrow.”

“That’s so long,” Cooper whined.

Rosemary face palmed.

She was done with their shit already.

-

The time Ilesha spent a week with team JARR, and it could be summed up by two actions.

The first was the constant singing and dancing that Ilesha put them through, the constant singing in their heads that they had to hear because of the telepathy…

And her shmazer. Any time one of them did something stupid or mean, Ilesha wouldn’t look up, but she would put her hand on her hip and then use it.

At this point, any time she put her hand on her hip, they were terrified by what she might do, and they’d flinch, even if she didn’t end up using it on any of them.

They… were more than ready to get Jin back.

-

Auburn cried out in pain as Crystal shoved him against the wall, racing toward the bathroom.

“You take so damn long in the shower!” Crystal cried.

“Do not! That’s racist!”

“No, it’s a fact, now move it!”

Crystal shoved him and was about to leap into the bathroom, but a hand reached out and grabbed onto her tail, yanking her backward.

Crystal cried out as Jin grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, holding both Auburn and Crystal up.

“Hey! No fighting, you little jerks!” she snapped.

They both stared at her with wide eyes that were filled with feared.

As Jin walked over and set them both on a bed, they agreed silently that they were more than ready for Lavey to be back.


	43. Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cooper: *crying* Last week, we lost our dear team leader.  
> Ilesha: *down the hall* QUIT TELLING EVERYONE I'M DEAD!  
> Akio: Sometimes, we can still hear her!

Ilesha opened the door and grinned when she saw Jin walking down the hallway.

“Hey, Jinny!” she cried, closing the door behind her. She didn’t wonder if the goblins would leave while she was gone.

They knew better than to do that.

“Il!” Jin said excitedly. She was happy to be back with her team, or, well, almost back with her team.

Despite everything, she had missed her little gremlins.

“I did it!”

“Did what?”

“I trained them! Now, remember, if you want them to do something, just put your hand on your hip.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it looks intimidating. Now I gotta get going, my team’s waiting!” Ilesha cried, grabbing a large box and throwing it over her shoulder before striding down the hall with a grin.

-

Three figures were pacing in front of the door back and forth.

Akio checked his watch.

“It’s not even time yet,” Rosemary said with an eye roll.

“It almost is,” Akio all but snapped back, tapping his hand against his watch to emphasize his point.

He sighed in frustration.

Cooper stopped pacing and suddenly spun to face the door.

“Do you hear that?” he asked quietly.

“Hear wh-”

Akio cut himself off, eyes wide.

“I'm coming home.”

The sound of music came from outside the room.

“I'm coming home.”

All three crowded around the door.

“Tell the world I'm coming home!” Ilesha sang from outside.

The door slammed open, her having kicked it.

“Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday!” she cried, a boombox thrown over her shoulder and blaring the song.

“I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes!” she continued, her voice almost more yelling than it was singing.

All three of her teammates raced toward her. Cooper tackled her first, throwing his arms around her shoulders and burying his face against her neck. Akio teleported afterward, appearing behind her to balance the three of them and pulling Ilesha closer.

“I'm coming home, I'm coming home!”

Mavros tackled all three of his teammates at full speed, and Akio’s efforts to keep them off of the ground were rendered useless, as they struck it.

“Tell the world that I'm coming!”

The four were laughing on the ground, Ilesha pulling her teammates closer.

Rosemary watched the four of them for a moment before she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and stepped around them, heading to her dorm room to rejoin her siblings and Clover.

-

Jin stepped into the dorm room and glanced at her teammates, eyes going wide.

They were all standing in prim and proper stances, watching Jin as she walked into the room.

“Uh… hey?” Jin said awkwardly. She didn’t understand why they were all dressed so fancy, nor why they were standing at attention.

“Hello, ma’am,” all three said together.

Jin was immediately creeped out.

“Alright, what’s going on with you three?” she asked, putting her hand on her hip. Ilesha had told her to do it…

All three jumped and their gazes darted down to her hip before they relaxed.

“Nothing, ma’am,” they said again.

Jin stared at them all for a long moment before she let her posture relax. She walked toward them with a caring look in her eyes.

“Oh my Dust, what’d she do to you?”

-

Adolpha was pacing back and forth in front of the door.

Jin had left fifteen minutes ago, and Lavey still wasn’t back yet.

“Where is she?” Adolpha asked in frustration, checking the time on her scroll.

“I don’t know, just like the last time you asked me!” Crystal snapped. She wasn’t pacing, but she was sitting on her bed, and her foot was tapping against the ground in frustration.

“I’m going to go check IMCA’s room.”

Crystal looked up.

“No, you can’t come with, you’ll get distracted!” Adolpha snapped, walking outside.

Crystal flushed and glared after her.

Adolpha glanced inside the dorm room, and she found that the team was sitting on the couch in a cuddle pile.

“Have you seen Lavey?” she called.

“Nope,” Ilesha called. “Why are you checking here?” she asked with a frown.

Adolpha stared at Ilesha for a long moment before she sighed and shook her head sufferingly. What was with people and not realizing people had crushes on them? She sighed and turned away, stepping back outside. Meanwhile, all three of Ilesha’s teammates were looking at her sufferingly.

Adolpha stalked back to the dorm room and found that Lavey wasn’t there yet.

She groaned and started to pace again, back and forth in front of the door.

This lasted for another hour. Occasionally, Adolpha would stalk outside and check in team IMCA’s dorm room, but the four of them had fallen asleep together on the couch, and she didn’t want to interrupt (but she still snuck in every once in a while).

She even went to RSCC’s dorm room, but she wasn’t allowed in. Apparently they had a team rule against allowing anyone outside of the team inside, and they refused to tell her if Lavey was inside the dorm or not.

Three hours later the sun was setting, and Adolpha had given up and fallen against her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Crystal looked legitimately worried now. She was used to Lavey being dramatic and stuff, but this was… this was rather worrisome and she was wondering where she could be.

Finally, the door pushed open, and all three of them looked up.

Lavey was standing in the doorway with a pair of maroon sunglasses, a button up Haiwaiin shirt with three buttons undone, and she held a coconut in one hand. She was sipping from a straw inside the coconut.

“Hey guys,” she said. “What happened to the bunk beds?”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Adolpha threw herself off of her bed and dashed to the doorway, grabbing Lavey in a tight hug.

Lavey cried out in shock, dropping her drink, which tumbled to the ground and spilled everywhere. Lavey looked down, eyes wide. Adolpha had grabbed her around the shoulders, and her head had landed on Lavey’s chest.

“You’re back!” she cried.

Lavey slowly, and awkwardly, reached out to wrap her arms around Adolpha, looking up.

She was about to ask Auburn and Crystal what was going on with their oldest siblings, but suddenly they were both hugging her too.

Lavey was thrown down onto the ground, hitting it with a  **thud** .

“Ow,” Lavey muttered. “What’s going on?”

“You’re back!” Auburn cried.

“As I heard,” Lavey said.

“Never leave us with Jin again,” Adolpha said, squeezing Lavey tighter.

“Jin?! What… I thought you guys would be sad to see her go!” Lavey cried. She had half expected Adolpha to hit her over the head with a chair when she got back.

Adolpha just shook her head and pulled closer to their team leader.

“Not her. Don’t  **ever** let her be our team leader again,” Crystal said.

“Wait… there’s a team leader you dislike more than me?” Lavey asked in shock.

Adolpha nodded against her chest.

Lavey tried not to laugh, barely holding it back.

“Well, it’s good to see you too, I guess, even if you still probably hate my guts,” Lavey whispered.

Adolpha didn’t respond, but her ear twitched.


	44. Consequences

_ I got a feeling that today will be the perfect day, _ Romy sang in her head.

_ I got a feeling something good is gonna come my way, _ Romelle sang back.

_ Never mind all the people that might hate on me, _ Aella sang in her head.

_ Never mind all the crazy things they say to me, _ they all continued together.  _ All I know is I've got a good feeling _

_ And nobody can take it away! _ they all sang together.

_ Can you all shut the heck up?! _ Jin shouted in their heads.

_ Sorry, but it’s stuck in our heads, _ Aella thought.

They were currently seated in Coco and Yang’s class, and all of her teammates were singing, which made it hard for Jin to focus on what her mother was saying.

_ How?! _ Jin cried.

_ Ilesha, _ all three thought as one.

_ What? How did she- _

Jin was cut off.

_ Can't rain on me, I'm made of sunshine! _ Aella sang in her head.

_ Will you  _ **_shut up_ ** _?! _ Jin cried.

_ Might be color blind but I see blue skies! _ Romy continued.

_ Clouds may cover me, but that don't bother me! _ Romelle sang.

_ Every part of me is smiling on the inside! _ they all sang together.

Jin barely held back a scream.

Later, they were all in their dorm room hanging out.

The song was still on loop, and Jin was singing to it in her head involuntarily.

She screamed into her pillow.

-

Ilesha looked up from her scroll and found that all three of the teammates were sneaking glancing at her.

“What?” she asked, frowning and tilting her head to the side in confusion.

None of them responded, and many looked away from her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Akio started to tap his foot against the ground.

She rolled her eyes.

“Do I need to use the shmazer, or are you going to tell me what’s happening?” Ilesha asked.

“It’s just… it’s an hour until dance practice,” Akio said.

Ilesha nodded, frowning.

“Yeah, it is.”

“So…”

“What?” Ilesha asked.

“We need to practice.”

“But practice is in an hour.”

“But we didn’t get enough practice in while you were gone,” Cooper said.

“You practiced?” Ilesha asked.

“Yeah, but we were missing you, so it didn’t work as well and…,” Akio trailed off, eyes wide as he saw the smirk that had spread across Ilesha’s lips.

Ilesha was barely stopping herself from laughing.

“How… how did you…,” Akio took a moment to compose his thoughts. “Did you do this on purpose?!”

Ilesha was silent, but she was struggling not to laugh.

“How?!”

“It really wasn’t that hard, I mean… I just had to wear you down until… until you loved it as much as I do.”

Ilesha smirked and Akio wracked through his mind, trying to figure out how she had done it.

“Alright! Let’s get back to dance practice!”

Ilesha clapped her hands together in front of her excitedly.

It took Akio a whole minute to be in a state where he was ready to dance.

-

“Pass me a pillow, Dolph,” Lavey said.

She fully expected for Adolpha to ignore her or yell at her.

Instead, Adolpha threw a pillow at her, and Lavey barely caught it due to her shock.

“Thanks,” she said slowly.

Adolpha nodded, and there was a different light in her eyes, as if she was more relaxed than Lavey had seen her months. Perhaps even years.

“Yeah… uh, it’s… not really a problem,” Adolpha said with a shrug.

“At least she didn’t yell at you,” Crystal agreed.

“I could if you want me to,” Lavey said with a grin.

Crystal stuck her tongue out at her.

Auburn was currently trying to fix his bunk bed with Adolpha, but he fell over when he was hit in the face by a pillow.

“Did you…,” Lavey stared at Crystal. “Just… break the pillow fight conventions?”

Crystal smirked, ducking down when Lavey tried to hit her in the face.

The pillow hit Adolpha, and they all froze.

“Dolph, I-”

Adolpha turned around, one eyebrow raised.

“Oh? So  **that’s** how it’s going to be?” Adolpha asked.

Suddenly, she picked up a pillow from her bed, and she slammed it against Lavey, causing her to go stumbling back.

Lavey  **beamed** in excitement before she raised her own pillow and launched herself at Adolpha.

An hour later, they had several broken pillows, four exhausted siblings, and a laughing team.

All in all? Better than the pillow wars.


	45. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished the favors plot line. Sorry I had to wait, but there was a reason!

“What do you want?” Yang asked.

Crystal and Lavey were both sitting side by side, their hands resting, folded, on the table in front of them professionally.

Across from them, all four of their mothers were watching with narrowed eyes, as if they didn’t trust whatever Lavey was planning… which was, under most circumstances, a very good idea to do.

“Want? Why, mother, we don’t want anythi-”

“Cut the crap, Lav,” Blake said, eyes narrowed. “We all know you did this for a reason, so spit it out.”

Crystal glanced at Lavey, starting to wonder. It… had been an odd series of events, and she herself was starting to suspect that Lavey had a larger goal in mind when it came to the favors.

“You want me to lay the cards down on the table?” Lavey asked, smirking. “No negotiations, no questions? Well, first you must answer one of mine.”

“What?” Weiss gritted out.

“What are you willing to give?” Lavey asked. “And by that I mean… how badly do you want this?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Just tell us what you want,” Weiss said.

“Favors.”

Crystal glanced over at Lavey, frowning in confusion. Favors? They already had favors. Dozens of them, actually, and she didn’t know how more could-

“Whose?” Ruby asked.

Lavey sent Crystal one last smirk before she leaned forward menacingly.

“Yours.”

A beat of silence.

“Ours?!” Weiss cried.

“Did I stutter, dear mother?” Lavey asked, leaning back and starting to inspect her nails. She didn’t look up at her parents… she missed the looks of confusion and outrage.

“You had this planned the whole time, didn’t you?” Blake growled.

“My intentions are not for you to know,” Lavey continued, though a smirk grew across her lips. Crystal knew in that moment that she had.

“We’re not bowing down to the whims of a terrorist,” Weiss growled.

“If you say so. Just know… there are ways to make this entire situation worse, don’t you?” Lavey asked.

Her parents hesitated and watched their youngest daughter with wide eyes.

“We’ve got  _ dozens _ of extra favors. A few can be used to cause chaos. In fact, I have quite a few Aella favors in my pocket…,” Lavey smirked and patted her jacket. “More than enough.”

Crystal was staring at Lavey with open shock now.

**This** had been what she was planning?!

There was a long moment of consideration, and their mothers were all exchanging looks, as if they were thinking about the options.

“How many do you want?” Yang finally asked.

“Ten fro-”

Lavey suddenly froze, glancing over at her sister.

“Five from each of you for each of us.”

“That’s ten each!” Weiss shouted.

Lavey nodded.

“I know.”

“There’s no way that we’re going to-”

Weiss was cut off by Lavey’s chair scooting back against the floor, causing a loud screeching noise.

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

“What?!” Weiss hissed.

“I said no negotiations, and now you’re trying to negotiate me down from ten, five for each of us, so this meeting has officially been terminated. If you wish to negotiate with us again, please leave a note in the kitchen vents.”

Lavey grabbed Crystal by the hand and started to drag her out of the room.

Under her breath, Lavey began to count.

“Three,” Lavey could hear Weiss quietly cursing under her breath, “two,” the four mothers were arguing with one another, “one.”

“Fine!” Weiss snapped. “Fine. You’ll get your favors.”

Lavey halted a step from the door, Crystal beside her.

“And you’ll honor the system?” Lavey asked.

“Yes, fine!” Weiss snapped. “How bad can ten favors be, anyways?” she muttered.

Lavey smirked to herself.

Oh, it wouldn’t be ten favors. Once a favor was out there, a person couldn’t withdraw themselves from the system, they were stuck in the trade and the economics for the rest of their time on Remnant, and Lavey had just ensnared four new victims that she could get favors from.

Lavey turned around slowly and dramatically, crossing her arms against her chest and smirking.

Crystal copied her.

“You have yourselves a deal.”

-

Crystal subconsciously put her hand on her pocket, feeling her favors wallet. It now had four new types inside of it.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Crystal whispered quietly.

“Rude,” Lavey said with an eye roll.

“I can’t believe you had that  **planned** !” Crystal hissed.

Lavey smirked.

“Yup.”

Crystal started to think.

Everything had been so purposeful. Every move, every trick she had pulled, every word she had said…

Except for one thing.

“Oh my Dust.”

“What?” Lavey asked, glancing over at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

“Ten. You said you wanted ten.”

“What of it?”

“I wasn’t a part of the plan,” Crystal breathed.

Lavey looked away.

“Why did you add me?”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Just tell me.”

“I just wanted to be nice for once, alright?!” Lavey hissed. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Crystal felt a smile growing across her lips, and she ducked her head to avoid letting her sister see it.

She couldn’t believe that, at the start of all this, she had doubted her sister.

-

Adolpha paced back and forth in her room.

She couldn’t believe that Lavey had manipulated their parents like that! How could she… how  **dare** she!

Lavey didn’t care about rules, regulations, family norms… about what anyone thought about her…

Adolpha growled.

How dare she?!


	46. Potluck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After this...
> 
> Vytal Tournament time!!!

“How could you overlook this? It’s basic logic and math.”

“I’m not a genius, Akio,” Ilesha said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t give me that crap, I’ve seen your test score!” Akio snapped.

“Always bringing that up,” Ilesha said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, it’s not cramped,” Ilesha threw her arm around Crystal’s shoulders and pulled her closer, “it’s cozy!”

Akio glanced at Crystal, finding that her entire face had gone bright red as she was shoved up against Ilesha’s side, and he barely held in a laugh.

“We can’t have a potluck with twelve people in this room,” Akio said, gesturing around at the IMCA dorm room, which was now cramped full with people, who were all bumping into one another.

“I think it’s nice! What about you, Stally?” Ilesha asked, glancing down at her with a grin.

Crystal flushed and looked away from Ilesha pointedly.

“It’s v-very crowded in here, maybe some other room would be better,” she managed to say.

Akio was snickering.

Ilesha started to pout.

“Well, if you think so, I guess we could…”

Ilesha let go of Crystal and started to shepherd people out of the room.

Crystal let out a breath of relief before she started to follow after.

Lavey tried not to look at her sister.

She was not jealous.

Okay, she was jealous, but she was sure as heck trying  **not** to be, because Crystal was her sister, and she wasn’t going to let some girl get in between them. That would be stupid… even if the girl was somehow both an energetic puppy and a demon that could beat the shit out of anyone.

Not even that kind of girl, the girl of Lavey’s dreams, could get between them. They were  **better** than that, and she would rather die than allow that to happen.

That being said… she would still **really** prefer that she got to date Ilesha instead of Crystal, should either happen in the first place.

-

“I’m telling you, it’ll work,” Romy growled.

“When?” Romelle snapped, arms crossed against her chest as she tapped her foot in frustration.

“When it works, damnit!” Romy cried.

“You always say that, and then you get us caught again,” Romelle said, rolling her eyes.

“Shut up, you’re making me lose my focus!” Romy hissed.

“Can’t lose what you never had.”

Romy growled.

Behind the bickering twins, Ilesha was tapping her foot impatiently, glancing down at her wrist.

“It’s six,” Akio said, having looked at his watch as soon as she had looked at her wrist.

“Thanks!” Ilesha called, but she didn’t sound as excited as she had earlier. “This is taking forever,” she muttered.

Lavey glanced over at her, shifting a bit on her feet as if considering.

“You… want to speed this up?” Lavey asked.

Ilesha glanced down at her.

“I think that would be awesome!” Ilesha said excitedly.

Lavey flushed and turned away from her smile before she stretched a bit, popping her shoulder.

“Alright,” Lavey said, dashing toward the side of the door.

Romy was still trying to pick the lock, but Lavey slid past her, pulling a screwdriver out of her pocket and undoing the ventilation. Once the door was open, she slipped inside, closing the vents behind her.

As Ilesha watched her go, she felt a small flush grow on her face.

She could remember why she used to have a crush on Lavey…

Crystal tried to subtly glance over at Ilesha, and she found that she was watching Lavey. Crystal looked away immediately, face turning a light shade of pink as a frown pulled at her lips. She crossed her arms.

Lavey scrambled through the vents and exited into the classroom that they were trying to break into-

_ Politely borrow _ , and she looked around for a moment before she hurried to the door.

She swung it open, ignoring when Romy cried out in shock and fell over backwards (Romelle laughed loudly).

Lavey held open the door, and Romelle was the first to walk through with a smug smirk.

After that, Ilesha all but skipped forward and grinned at Lavey.

“Thanks, Lav-Lav!” Ilesha cried, giving her a grin before she hurried into the room.

Lavey flushed and looked down while the other people walked inside.

“So, what’d everyone bring?!” Ilesha cried enthusiastically, turning to face her friends.

“Salad,” Mavros said.

“You know what I brought,” Akio said, rolling his eyes fondly.

Ilesha giggled.

“I know, and it was very sweet of you to bring my favorite.”

Lavey and Crystal both glanced at their brother, and they saw that he was holding spaghetti and meatballs. Both of them flushed and looked away, though they made sure to side eye Ilesha and see how she was watching Akio.

“I brought a fruit arrangement,” Aella said awkwardly, holding it out.

Jin grinned in excitement.

“Did you get that because-”

“You love them?” Aella scoffed as if the idea was preposterous. “Yes, that’s exactly why,” she muttered.

Jin giggled and rolled her eyes. Aella might be a gremlin, but she was  _ her _ gremlin now, just like Romelle and Romy.

“I brought homemade lemonade!” Cooper said proudly.

Mavros looked at him fondly, and Cooper didn’t seem to notice.

“I brought mashed potatoes,” Romy offered.

Adolpha made a noise of disgust, her nose wrinkling up.

Romelle awkwardly showed the food she had hidden behind her back.

“Chocolate chip cookies,” she said quietly.

Adolpha’s face lit up in excitement.

“I love those!”

Romelle didn’t respond.

“You do?” Romy asked in confusion, tilting her head to the side.

Adolpha blushed and looked away from Romy, nodding.

“I-I brought steak,” Adolpha said, turning her attention.

Lavey glanced over with wide eyes, her mouth starting to water.

Adolpha glanced at her sister 

“I brought the rolls,” Auburn said.

Lavey rolled her eyes.

“Macaroni,” Crystal said gruffly.

Ilesha glanced at her and grinned.

“I love that!”

Crystal flushed and didn’t respond.

“Cake,” Lavey said, shrugging.

Everyone stared at her. It was a fancy cake, one that looked like it had taken hours to make.

“Where did you buy that?” Ilesha asked.

“I baked it!” Lavey said defensively.

Ilesha’s eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

Jin, if only to interrupt Ilesha, spoke.

“Tacos. I brought tacos.”

“That’s great! Now that everything’s in ord-”

“What did  _ you _ bring?” Akio asked with a small smirk, as if he already knew.

Ilesha  _ beamed _ .

“Energy drinks!” she cried.

Ilesha then hefted six cases into the air, and everyone stared.

“Ilesha, we can’t drink all of that,” Crystal said.

Ilesha giggled.

“I know! Four of these are for me!”

With that, Ilesha opened a bottle and started to drink it. Crystal watched with a mixture of shock and horror.

“Chug, chug, chug!” her teammates started to chant, Akio even getting into it.

After a moment, Jin grinned and reached down, opening the second for Ilesha.

She joined in on the chanting as Ilesha started her second drink.

“Chug, chug, chug!”

Ilesha finished another off and giggled, tossing it into the recycling can a few feet away.

Crystal and Lavey both watched her with matching expressions.

_ Oh my Dust, _ Crystal thought,  _ how did I fall for…  _ **_this_ ** _ one?! _

“Wait, how do you know about her chugging these things?” Akio asked Jin.

Jin and Ilesha shared a glance.

“We had a… very enlightening conversation once.”

Ilesha giggled.

“En _ light _ ening!”

Jin stared at her with disappointment.

Crystal tried not to blush as Ilesha’s hair slowly started to turn a lighter shade of yellow.

-

The potluck was in full swing, and the room was filled with chatter.

“I swear!” Jin said, laughing as she leaned back on her hands and looked over at Akio. “I  _ yelled _ at Adolpha, man! I… I couldn’t believe it either, but after dealing with those gremlins for a few weeks, I just couldn’t stop myself!”

Akio was laughing loudly to himself, shaking his head.

“Oh my Dust!” he cried. “You think  _ you _ have it bad?! I’m still still waiting for Ilesha to admit that she has a crush on them!”

Crystal had been standing a few feet, and her eyes went wide. Her face turned a dark shade of red, and behind her, her tail poofed up, each and every standing up straight.

Akio said something else about it being annoying, but Crystal couldn’t hear over the pounding of her own heart in her ears.

Ilesha… had a crush on someone?

**_Who_ ** ?!

-

“You know…,” Adolpha side eyed Lavey, trying to be subtle. “A friend of mine asked me… how they should apologize to someone, and I was wondering what your opinion was-”

“That person, if they’re truly sorry, would apologize and then try to fix themselves and their problems.”

Adolpha opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out, and Lavey had already stood to walk off, leaving Adolpha in a stunned state.

Fix themselves?

Why that little-

-

Crystal was leaning against the desk, her tail still not quite normal. She had tried to run her hand through it to settle the hairs down, but it hadn’t worked. She didn’t care as much as she usually did, because Ilesha was interested in someone.

But  _ who _ ?!

She had sort of thought that maybe Ilesha and Akio had had something going on, but since he’d complained about it, she supposed that couldn’t be right…

She looked up, and her gaze landed on Ilesha, who was standing on her own and giggling almost drunkenly. It seemed that the four cases of energy drinks she had drunk had caused her to have a reaction… though not the one Crystal had expected.

Ilesha’s hair was a brilliant shade of gold, like Crystal had never seen before, and it was almost blinding to see the light bouncing off of it. She supposed it made sense that Ilesha had her hair such a bright color, considering she must have been charging up for the Vytal Tournament tomorrow, but it was still distracting to Crystal.

She decided that the only way she could get answers would be to ask Ilesha directly… no matter how horrifying the idea was.

-

Crystal walked over to Ilesha, taking a calming breath before she reached out to tap on her shoulder-

Ilesha spun before she got the chance, giggling.

“Stally!” she cried, slightly too loud.

Crystal wondered if the overwhelming amount of electricity she was holding was contributing to her odd, almost drunken behavior.

“H-hey, Ilesha,” she said, trying to not be too awkward.

It… didn’t work.

“I wanted to ask you-”

“Oh my Dust! I  _ love _ your tail!” Ilesha said, reaching her hand out and almost touching Crystal’s tail. “It’s so  **cute** when it’s all frizzy!”

Crystal flushed, knowing full well that her tail had to be even frizzier now.

“Uh… thanks?”

“Can I touch it?”

Crystal wanted to say no, but she couldn’t to that excited face.

She sighed and nodded.

Ilesha grabbed it immediately and started to run her hand through it happily.

“It’s so  _ soft _ !” she cried.

Crystal cleared her throat, trying to ignore Ilesha continuing to pet her tail.

“I wanted to ask you… about something that Akio said earlier, and if you’re uncomfortable with-”

Ilesha suddenly looked serious, and she leaned closer.

“You can ask me  _ anything _ , Stally.”

Crystal tried not to look at her.

“He said something about you having a crush on someone, and I was wondering if that’s tru-”

“I  **do** !” Ilesha cried, as if she was suddenly shocked by that fact. “I do, and they’re  **_so_ ** pretty and funny and nice and…,” Ilesha suddenly grew distracted, a blinding grin growing on her face. “They have  **cookies** !”

With that, Ilesha took off, leaving a darkly blushing Crystal behind.

That might have been good, considering she didn’t know if she could have taken anything else.

Ilesha… definitely had a crush on a girl, right? Someone didn’t call their male crush pretty, typically, right?

Crystal didn’t think so.

So that meant…

Crystal shook her head and let her face fall into her hands. She knew that her tail was poofed up, and there was no way for her to fix it before she calmed down… except, she wasn’t exactly sure when that would be, considering her heart was still  _ racing _ .

-

Crystal was lying awake in bed, and she was aware that that was  **not** a good thing to be doing the night before the Vytal Tournament… but she couldn’t help it.

“Would you stop tossing and turning?” Lavey hissed from the top bunk, bringing her head down so that she could squint at Crystal through the darkness. “You’re making it hard to fall asleep.”

Crystal couldn’t stop the words that came out of her mouth next.

“Ilesha has a crush on someone,” she whispered.

Lavey was silent, and with Crystal’s ability to see in the dark, she saw Lavey almost fall off of her bed.

“She… does?”

“Yes.”

“Do you… happen to know who-”

“No, but… it’s a girl.”

There was another unbearably long moment of silence before Lavey nodded, her face a dark shade of red that Crystal could see even in the darkened room, and brought herself back onto the top bunk.

Neither said a word for the rest of the night.


	47. Insecurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the day break...  
> Here's 11k words

Ilesha sighed and leaned back against the wall, setting her hand against it idly.

Her team was surrounding her, and she was trying not to let her hand shake. There was too much electricity built up inside of her, and it was making her jittery and hyper. It was hard to focus, and now she was fidgeting some. Her hand flinched, and suddenly it landed on the electrical outlet.

A moment later, Akio reached down and grabbed her hand before she could harness any more electricity.

“Don’t,” Akio said with an eye roll.

“Alright,” Ilesha said with a giggle.

Akio sighed in frustration at her, hoping that his team leader would go back to her normal crazy person instead of the even crazier version she was now.

Ilesha heard footsteps down the hallway, and she turned her gaze up, grinning in excitement when she saw them.

“Lav-Lav! Stally!” she said, almost slurring her words.

They both glanced at each other, flushing slightly, and turned to face the team leader.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion for a moment.

“We… had something to give to you,” Lavey said almost awkwardly.

“You do? Is it a present? Wait… today isn’t my birthday,” Ilesha said. She started to giggle to herself, and Akio rolled his eyes.

“One second,” he said to his sister.

He turned to his friend and reared his hand back, bringing it slamming forward against Ilesha’s face.

Ilesha jumped in shock, and both of Akio’s sisters glared at their brother in anger, wondering why he had smacked Ilesha.

Ilesha’s mind cleared, and she laughed awkwardly, reaching one hand back and rubbing her neck with it.

“Sorry! Thanks, Kio.”

Akio rolled his eyes and turned to leave, returning to his conversation with Mavros and Cooper.

“So what did you say that you had for me?” Ilesha asked, frowning as she looked down at the two.

Lavey elbowed her sister and gestured forward, not daring to look at Ilesha.

Crystal sighed and looked away, pulling their gift out from behind her back and showing it for Ilesha to see.

Ilesha gasped in excitement, eyes going wide.

Crystal was holding a large, circular shield, which was the length of Ilesha’s forearm. The shield was entirely made out of metal, which was something that made Ilesha  **very** excited. She reached forward tentatively, as if her friends were going to steal the shield away from her, but Crystal just held it out, refusing to meet her gaze.

“Thank you,” Ilesha breathed, “both of you. This is… I mean, it’s so  _ nice _ , but I don’t know why you’d-”

“Because you don’t have a  **weapon** !” Crystal all but snapped, eyes darting up to Ilesha. After a moment, she flushed, as if she had realized what she had said. “I mean, you do, but also… a… ‘shmazer’ isn’t sanctioned for the Vytal Tournament, so you should really use a weapon of some sort, and…”

“We wanted to make sure that you’re safe,” Lavey muttered, kicking at the ground.

“Aw, you do?” Ilesha said, putting a hand to her chest.

Both of them flushed and looked away from her.

“Duh,” Crystal muttered.

Ilesha pulled the weapon into her grasp and hand a hand over it in an almost reverent fashion. Sparks shot from her fingers over it, and Ilesha giggled.

“That’s so nice, you guys! Thank you!” Ilesha cried, letting the shield rest against her arm, though neither sister thought they saw her arm slide through the straps. “It’s so nice I could kiss you!” both of their eyes popped. “Oh… but my Semblance is fully charged, and… oh well, maybe next time!”

Ilesha glanced down at her wrist, not noticing as both Lavey and Crystal gaped at her.

“It’s a minute until the fight,” Akio said instinctively.

“Thanks, Kio!” she said enthusiastically before turning back to the two sisters. “I’ll see you later! Thanks for the shield!”

With that, she skipped away, leaving Lavey and Crystal to watch her go with bright red faces and disbelieving gazes.

Ilesha was humming to herself as she walked down the hall, a slight skip to her step as she glanced down at her new weapon.

There was nothing more attractive than a woman giving you a blunt force weapon.

-

“On the right hand side, you have team LTNG,” pronounced lightning, “consisting of Leilora Broxy, Ternosia Elixia, Nicholsan Bravado, and Greno Yall. On the left hand side… still having not come out of their side, is team IMCA, consisting of Ilesha Ajax, Mavros Verin, Cooper Schnee-Polendina, and Akio Belladonna-Schnee! These four are fan favorites, because they are known for breaking into song and dance,” in the stands, Stacey Ajax facepalmed, “and are very popular with both the lads and the ladies!”

Team IMCA stood in a line at the entrance, but they weren’t walking forward.

Akio huffed and pulled out his scroll.

“Aunt Nora, I didn’t get you those favors for you to  **not** play the song for our entrance, so hurry up,” Akio said before he put his scroll back in his pocket and turned to look at the field.

A minute later, the music started up, and they started to walk into the arena.

“I'm gonna sit back and watch my flag ascend.

The other team watched in disbelief as the music started up, staring at team IMCA with wide eyes.

“I won't talk myself up, I don't need to pretend,” Ilesha sang to herself, smirking and holding her shield up in a menacing way.

“You won't see me coming 'til it's too late again,” Mavros sang.

“I'm gonna sit back and watch my flag ascend,” Akio continued, stretching his arms over his head in a nonchalant fashion.

The music paused, and only then could the four hear the deafening cheers that were sounding for them.

Ilesha giggled and waved.

“A shield? That’s a new addition to Ilesha’s arsenal! Before, she’s never used an officially recognized weapon!” Nora cried.

Ilesha leaned down and grabbed the microphone.

“Some pretty ladies gave it to me,” she said, giggling as her hair started to frizz a bit on the edges, crackling with electricity that was just pleading to be used.

In the stands, team ATLSS had fallen silent, staring at Ilesha with disbelief as she laughed, running a hand through her hair. It continued to crackle with electricity as she did so, and several dozen people were left staring at her.

“When did that happen?” Syntheia hissed.

“I don’t know!” Stacey whispered back.

“When did what happen?” Alea asked, glancing at her wives.

“Nothing, Sweetie,” Lexey said lovingly, leaning closer and putting her head on Alea’s shoulder.

“Who are they?” Terresa growled. “Who are the little harlots  _ throwing _ themselves at our little girl?”

“That’s literally what you four did,” Alea said.

“That was different,” Stacey said primly, her arms crossed against her chest.

Nora began to count down to the fight.

“Three,” Akio raised his weapons, which started to buzz as the saw blades began, “two,” Cooper pulled his night vision goggles on and his smoke bombs, “one.”

Ilesha shot forward, the music already starting.

“My name is thunder, and lightning."

Ilesha brought her shield up in front of her like a battering ram, slamming it against the closest member of team LTNG, Leilora.

Ilesha used her shield and slammed it against Ternosia. Ilesha laughed in excitement, the electricity shooting from her, into the shield, and then slamming into her enemy.

They stumbled back, and Ilesha danced in a circle, avoiding the attack that came from Nicholsan, and laughed again.

“That’s… that’s not an offensive weapon,” Crystal said, watching Ilesha with wide eyes.

“It’s amazing,” Lavey breathed. Crystal glanced over at her sister, and she saw that Lavey was watching her with the look of utmost adoration.

“My name is something very frightening.”

Ilesha brought her shield up to block an attack and then slammed her shield forward, causing Greno to go stumbling backward.

“My name is adrenaline, exciting”

Ilesha stumbled back when a punch hit her, and she was too slow to avoid it.

That was weird… she was usually faster than that, right? She had always been worried about her speed, but… that had been much slower than before.

“You don't believe! My name is thunder, and lightning!”

Ilesha turned to look at her teammates, and frowned in confusion.

“I'll be showing up uninvited.”

Akio was trying to speak, but no words were coming out and he waved in an attempt to get her attention. Cooper looked smaller somehow, and he was hunched slightly, looking around in a nervous state. Mavros had his hands up, holding his horns and trying to keep himself up straight as he stumbled. Cooper tried to help, but he just stumbled and fell over. Meanwhile, Mavros was clutching his horns, which had grown to an impossible length, causing him to fall over.

“My name is adrenaline, exciting.”

Ilesha watched in absolute confusion and horror.

Ilesha spun on her heel, holding her new shield up to deflect another attack, and her mind unintentionally shot to the shield itself… and the people that had given them to her.

She had been  **very** excited to get it, especially since the two had started to talk to her normally once again, and they had been so nice about it that she had thought that maybe…

Maybe her old feelings, which she had thought she had finally been able to bottle up and get rid of, were coming back, and she had thought that maybe they were finally starting to be reciprocated, but…

That was silly.

The only reason they were giving her this was so that she wouldn’t get herself killed during the Vytal Tournament, because they didn’t like her, not like she liked them, they never had, and she was going to lose this tournament because she wasn’t any different from the little girl she had been a year ago-

Ilesha froze.

The shield in front of her had become rotted and rusted, and it had started to grow mold, as if it were years old. That didn’t make sense…

She glanced up at the cameras, even as a piece of Dust from Leilora’s slingshot hit Ilesha in the face.

She looked… she looked like the little girl she had once been.

That was…

Her eyes suddenly widened in understanding, and she scrambled backward, holding up her shield in the air.

Her shield wasn’t weak. In fact, it was  **amazing** ! It was a great gift, a great weapon, that had been given to her by two girls that truly cared for her, might even… might even like her. She didn’t have anything to be self conscious about!

“If you don't believe, then let me show ya!”

As if by magic, the shield mended itself, and Ilesha felt her body shift back to normal.

That was it! One of them was manipulating her and her insecurities! They were using them to manipulate reality with their Semblance.

Ilesha held up her shield, blocking a strike from Nicholsan’s red and white cane, and Ilesha smirked, letting electricity shoot through her.

“You know what?” Ilesha asked outloud, trying to breathe her idea into being, “I think… that I’m  _ too _ powerful. Like… look at me?” Ilesha felt herself crackling with electricity, which was honestly a surprise. She hadn’t thought this stupid idea would work. “I’m actually…  **way** too fast, it makes me nervous.  _ And _ too strong!”

“Adrenaline, exciting.”

“I'll make my own future, I won't leave it to fate!”

Ilesha spun in a circle, bringing her shield slamming against Leilora with strength. She was sent  _ flying _ back, and Ilesha laughed, spinning in a tight circle to avoid a strike from Greno’s…

“I'll rise so high I'll be the Empire State.”

Greno’s  _ electric lasso, _ you say?

“I'll learn my lessons from my scars and mistakes.”

Ilesha’s hand reached out to the side with impossible speed and precision, as if she was too fast for her own good.

“I'll make my own future, I won't leave it to fate!” Ilesha sang, tapping her foot as she pulled the lasso to herself.

Greno was sent stumbling, and Ilesha laughed, the electricity shooting down the lasso and into her hand. She absorbed the electricity easily.

“My name is thunder, and lightning!” Ilesha sang, pulling her opponent closer and ducking down without a spare glance, avoiding a punch from Nicholas.

Ilesha laughed and felt her electricity storage build up.

“My name is something very frightening.”

Ilesha’s hair shot up and stood on edge, crackling with energy as bolts of lightning shot through it. She tugged Greno closer to herself, and Ilesha brought her shield up, slamming it against his face as he stumbled.

Greno went down, and Ilesha was already running off to the side at speeds that should be impossible to any human.

Nicholas cried out, but it didn’t change anything.

“My name is adrenaline, exciting!”

Ilesha all but tackled her opponent, bringing him slamming to the ground. She then reared her arm back and brought her new weapon slamming down against his face.

When he continued to fight, she grabbed his face with both hands and let the electricity flow from her and into him.

The buzzer rang a second time.

“You don't believe.”

Ilesha turned to her final two opponents.

“You know,” she whispered. “Sometimes, I worry that I’m just too…  **electrifying** .”

Ilesha shot forward, her form a blur to everyone watching, and closed the distance between herself and Leilora. She was saving Ternosia for last.

Ilesha had figured it out. Her Semblance let her amplify and realize people’s worst anxieties and fears about themselves, the things they were insecure about.

So when Ilesha said she was afraid of being too powerful…

“My name is thunder, and lightning.”

Ilesha brought her fist forward, and it was surrounded by an electric blur.

“I'll be showing up uninvited.”

It connected with Leilora’s face, and Ilesha grinned in excitement as another buzzer sounded off.

“My name is adrenaline, exciting!”

Ilesha smirked at her final opponent.

“H-how did you-”

“Your Semblance isn’t infallible… and I’m  _ just _ chaotic enough to point it out.”

She grabbed Ternosia, and Ilesha let a large amount of her reserves flow into the other girl.

A buzzer sounded.

“If you don't believe, then let me show ya!”


	48. Blind Sided

Adolpha felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned, finding that Weiss was standing behind her with a loving smile.

“Hey, Dolph,” she said softly.

Their parents had been leaving them alone a lot this year to let them develop independently, despite how hard that had been for the four.

“Hey mom,” Adolpha breathed.

“How are you doing?” Weiss asked.

Adolpha sniffed.

“Not fucking good, mom,” she whispered.

Weiss stared at her in shock, eyes wide.

In the other room, where Blake had been listening intently with her Faunus ears, she tipped back further in her chair than she had meant to, and she was sent falling to the ground in a heap.

“Watch your language-wait, no, that’s not what matters right now. What’s wrong?”

“Lavey’s mad at me.”

“Well Lavey is a challenging person to live with-”

Weiss froze.

“Wait, did you say that Lavey was mad at  **you** ?!”

Adolpha nodded, bringing her legs up to her chest and putting her head on top of her knees.

“What… what made her mad at you?” Weiss asked cautiously.

“I was rude,” Adolpha whispered.

Weiss looked out of her depth.

“How so?” she asked gently.

“I… mom, I was a bad sister, and then I…,” Adolpha sighed and slumped to the side against where Weiss was standing.

Weiss caught her daughter before she could fall.

“I made a mistake, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Have… have you tried apologizing?”

“Yes.”

“Then-”

“Or, well… kind of? I tried, and then she said that I had to  _ fix it _ , but… I don’t know if I can. I don’t know  **how** !”

Weiss hesitantly ran her hand through her daughter’s hair, gently stroking her ears.

“Well, the best first step is to actually apologize, and then try your hardest to do better, right?”

Adolpha nodded weakly against her side.

“Do you want to talk more?” Weiss asked gently.

Adolpha shook her head.

“Do you want me to stay?”

She nodded, so Weiss took a seat and let Adolpha curl up at her side with a sniffle.

-

Adolpha jogged up to join her teammates, skidding to a stop and start walking normally beside Lavey. She glanced down at her awkwardly.

“Hey, Lav,” Adolpha said quietly after a moment of silence.

“We agreed to meet up five minutes before we started the fight,” Lavey said, her voice monotone. She glanced back at Adolpha and glared. “You’re late.”

Adolpha barely stopped herself from yelling at her.

“I know, sorry.”

Lavey shrugged.

“You never listen to me anyways, should have known that you wouldn’t this time.”

Adolpha winced.

She was about to argue, but two things stopped her. First, Nora came on the announcements and said that team LAAC needed to head toward the entrance. And second… well, Adolpha didn’t exactly know how to respond to that.

“Coming in from the left is team CHAR, consisting of team leader Charlitos Muna, Haracha Balin, Arabella Fallcedar, and Rayya Arnulf!” Nora cried. She stumbled over the names, as if she couldn’t figure out how to pronounce them. “And from the right is team LAAC, consisting of team leader Lavey Belladonna-Schnee, Adolpha Belladonna-Schnee, Auburn Belladonna-Schnee, and Crystal Belladonna-Schnee!”

Lavey reached back and grabbed her weapon from behind her back, currently in bo staff form, and twirled it between her fingers, extending the weapon until it was its full seven feet.

Adolpha reached down and unhooked her hook swords from her belt, readying them.

Auburn raised his harpoon, hefting it up and holding it in his hands while he bent his knees to the ready position.

Crystal had drawn her rapier, and she held it primly in front of her, as if she was about to dance instead of fight. Adolpha wondered for a moment if she had the time to make a joke about Crystal dancing with Ilesha, but she froze at the thought.

Since when did little miss perfect think things like that?

Adolpha, suddenly, realized that she didn’t. But that didn’t matter, because  **Adolpha** did.

She blinked in shock, and she would have stood completely still in a daze for a few minutes, had Nora not started to announce the selections for the arena.

On one side, there would be an oceanic section, and on the other side, there was the wreckage of what appeared to be an ancient city, the streets lined with pavement and stone that was chipped away on the edges. In the oceanic section, there were a few sparse islands, but not very many.

Lavey was already smirking, and Adolpha could see the cold, calculating look in her eyes.

“Three,” Nora called, and the two teams readied, “two,” Auburn put his hands on Adolpha and Crystal’s shoulders, “one!”

Auburn turned his Semblance on, connecting both Crystal and Adolpah instantly before he leapt to do the same to Lavey, all but tackling his gremlin of a sister.

Adolpha suddenly let out a cry of shock as a sort of ringing filled her ears. She folded them to the base of her skull and let out a quiet whimper.

She blinked her eyes open, and instantly became discombobulated as she saw the world in double… including her opponents.

Lavey hurried to her side, waving her hand and causing Auburn to quietly slip into the water.

Lavey bent down beside Adolpha, putting her hands over Adolpha’s and slowly bringing them down from her ears.

Lavey spoke, but Adolpha couldn’t hear her.

Lavey frowned in worry, moving closer and snapping her fingers beside Adolpha’s left ear.

There wasn’t a sound, and Adolpha’s eyes widened in fear.

Lavey spun, putting herself between Adolpha and their opponents.

“What in the name of  **_Dust_ ** did you do to my sister?!” she shouted.

Adolpha could almost hear the words, but not quite.

Adolpha tried to stand and walk a bit, but the world shifted under her, and she couldn’t quite tell where she was going.

Lavey caught her before she could fall.

“Cy!” Lavey snapped. “That one!”

Lavey pointed at the teammate she had seen focusing on Adolpha, Arabella, and Crystal nodded, taking off at a sprint. She ran low to the ground, almost like a cat that was chasing its prey. Her tail swayed behind her, and her eyes had turned cold.

She raised her rapier, but Crystal froze suddenly, stumbling and almost fell on her face. She scrambled to steady herself, planting her weapon on the ground. It didn’t help, and she fell to the ground.

She cried out in a mixture of shock and anger.

“Hey! What’s going on?!”

“You’re failing is what’s going on, now get up!” Lavey snapped, still resting one hand on Adolpha’s shoulder and keeping her sister steady.

“I’m trying! There’s something going on!” Crystal snapped.

“That,” a voice drawled from across the battlefield, “would be me. Name’s Haracha.”

Crystal glowered at him and growled, reaching her hand out and grabbing her rapier again. She summoned a glyph, one which allowed her to stand in place, and stopped herself from slipping.

“Looks like the little kitty’s in a little cage.”

Crystal growled, her tail flicking irritably behind her.

“I’ll show you what a  _ real _ cage is,” Crystal growled.

She started to summon a glyph, but when she made the motion, another one appeared in front of Lavey.

“Sorry, Cy! I needed it more!” Lavey shouted, taking off running at inhuman speeds due to the use of her sister’s Semblance.

Crystal waited for Lavey to help her, but Lavey darted past her.

“ASSHOLE!” Crystal shouted.

She was censored.

Lavey weaved her way in between the fighting, and the opponents that were trying to take her down before she could reach Arabella, but Lavey wouldn’t let herself be deterred.

The moment Lavey stopped, she let the glyph disappear, and she brought her weapon forward.

“Finally!” Crystal snapped, summoning another glyph, which created a summoning that attacked a screaming Haracha.

Lavey planted her knee on the ground a few feet away from her target, Arabella, and Lavey spun her bo staff, setting it on her shoulder.

She touched the button on the side, and the bo staff shifted. A scope appeared from the side, popping out in front of Lavey’s eye. The rest of the staff shifted and enlarged with the clicking into place until the front of the bo staff was now open, revealing the barrel of a gun… but not any gun. The bo staff, which had previously been quite thin, was now large enough that, when Lavey reached down to her pocket and pulled out a missile, shoving it down the barrel of her weapon.

“Lights out,” Lavey whispered.

As Arabella ran away, screaming, Lavey smirked, her eye focusing on the scope before she pulled the trigger of her missile launcher.

Despite Arabella’s running, Lavey’s missile struck home, and Lavey was already on her feet, dashing across the ground toward her.

Haracha, despite Crystal’s attack, tried to use his Semblance on Lavey, but she was far too small for him to focus on from a distance.

Lavey spun her weapon, now back in staff form, and slammed it against her competitor, causing her to fall back onto the ground.

Lavey then put her staff back on her back, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Adolpha was still alright. She found that Charlitos was darting toward Adolpha, and Lavey cursed to herself.

She reared her leg back and kicked Arabella, causing her Aura to reach dangerous levels.

Lavey didn’t need to hear the buzzer before she had taken off at a sprint.

Lavey dashed past Haracha and Crystal.

“Adolpha, dive!” Lavey shouted.

The wolf Faunus hesitated too long, and she was hit in the chest by Carlitos’ blade, which he had ripped from a holster on her thigh.

Lavey growled in frustration.

She had taken out Arabella so that Adolpha would be able to listen to her, but Lavey was starting to realize that she could have gone after the other one first, considering Adolpha  _ never listened to her _ .

“Roll right!” Lavey screamed. She could see the shadows of the attacks before they came, or, well, the most likely outcomes, and that was what she was basing her instructions on, knowing that Adolpha wouldn’t be able to see them in her state.

Adolpha hesitated and then started to do as told, but she was struck again, this time in the head, causing her to stumble several feet backwards.

“JUMP!” Lavey yelled at full volume. She was closing in, but it was just her and Adolpha. She knew that Auburn was somewhere in the water, probably planning something, and Crystal couldn’t help at the moment, so she was Adolpha’s only hope, but she wouldn’t  **_listen_ ** .

Adolpha was hit by a kick to the legs, sweeping them out from under her.

Lavey had enough.

“DAMNIT, ADOLPHA!” she bellowed. “How hard is it to just LISTEN TO ME?!”

Lavey finally reached them, and she threw herself forward at full speed, hitting Charlitos in the back and sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Lavey had been saving her reserves for weeks now, but having split them four ways and having to protect Adolpha… she wasn’t sure how long they would last.

Adolpha stumbled to her feet, and Lavey saw the ghost of a rifle bullet fire, striking Adolpha in the chest.

“Duck!” Lavey cried, though she knew that it was a fruitless attempt. After all, Adolpha had never listened to a word she had said. She’d been foolish to think that at the end of this semester she would have actually made headway with her sister, and-

Lavey blinked in shock as Adolpha dove to the ground, the bullet just missing her head and flying over.

Lavey was so shocked that she almost didn’t notice Charlitos attempting to stab her in the stomach.

Lavey rolled to the side and then hopped to her feet, readying herself.

“Run forward!” Lavey snapped.

Adolpha didn’t hesitate this time, sprinting at full speed and closing the distance between herself and Rayya, who had been hiding in some of the wrecked city.

Lavey swung her bo staff at full force, using the remaining bits of her reserves.

Another buzzer.

Lavey spun to face her sister.

“Duck, turn left thirty degrees, and kick!” Lavey shouted.

Adolpha did as she was told, and a punch flew over her head. Adolpha’s foot connected with Rayya’s leg, and she cried out.

“Use your swords!” Lavey shouted. “She’s right in front of you!”

Adolpha whipped her hooked swords from her sheaths and swung them down, the first grabbing her opponent’s hand and yanking her forward while the other slashed her front.

“Now!” Lavey shouted.

Adolpha slammed her boot down against the other girl, who cried out. A buzzer sounded.

Adolpha had used all of her remaining reserves in one hit, and now she was drained completely.

Suddenly, her sight returned to her, and she stumbled a bit.

Lavey was there at her side, and she caught her.

“I did it!” Adolpha said quietly, though she sounded excited. She hadn’t won a team spar all year.

“Yeah, you see what happens when you fucking listen to me?” Lavey said gently.

Adolpha’s eyes widened in disbelief, staring at her sister as if she just realized what had happened.

She slipped out of Lavey’s arms, and she hit the ground, staring up at the sky with horror and shock.

“Oh my Dust,” she breathed. “I listened to you.”

“Yeah, right, sorry, forgot that was a si-”

“I listened to you, and it worked. It worked  _ so well _ !” Adolpha hissed. “I could have been doing this  **all year** !”

“THAT’S WHAT I SAID!” Lavey shouted.

Adolpha was still staring up at the sky.

“I’m so stupid.”

“Yeah, yeah, pity party’s over, Dolph, get up,” Lavey said, rolling her eyes and leaning down to help her sister to her feet.

“Is anyone going to help me?!” Crystal shouted.

They both ignored her. Lavey because she was still having trouble not laughing every time she saw Crystal stuck in a little island of glyphs, unable to go anywhere else, and Adolpha because she was still in a state of shock.

Haracha stepped toward Crystal as if he intended to use his weapon again, but suddenly a form  _ burst _ from the water, harpoon gun in hand.

Auburn screamed at full volume and shot his weapon at Haracha, Crystal watching with disbelief.

Auburn turned his Dust on, choosing electricity. It was always best to use that after being in the water, considering it made the weapon and its attack even more powerful.

Haracha convulsed before a buzzer sounded, and Auburn cheered.

Crystal growled.

“You asshole! I was going to take him out!” she hissed.

“You were  **just** asking for help!”

Crystal rolled her eyes, about to respond, but a voice came over the announcements.

“And with that, team LAAC has secured the victory!” Nora cried.

Adolpha didn’t seem to notice, leaning on Lavey.

“I didn’t listen,” she muttered.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Lavey said with an eye roll.

“Why didn’t you  _ tell me _ you were such a good team leader?!” Adolpha hissed.

“I DID!”

Adolpha considered. She supposed that Lavey had, but she hadn’t really paid attention. Lavey said she was good at everything, after all, so Adolpha had just dismissed it.

She supposed that…  _ might _ have been a miscalculation.

Lavey and Adolpha waited for Auburn and Crystal to rejoin them before they started to make their way out the arena, Adolpha stumbling a bit, though that could be due to the damage she took or the realization.

Perhaps both.

As soon as they had gotten back in, and taken their microphones off, Adolpha leaned back against the wall, her eyes wide, and slid down to a sitting position, staring up at Lavey.

“We have…  _ so _ much to talk about.”


	49. Making Up

Adolpha was still staring up at the ceiling with a vacant look in her eyes, so Lavey awkwardly took a seat beside her.

Auburn and Crystal were both standing in front of them, and they didn’t seem to know what to do.

Lavey waved for them to leave before she turned to her sister.

“So, what exactly do we have to talk about?” Lavey asked, crossing her legs in front of her and leaning back against the wall. She glanced at her sister one more time, seeing that she was still watching the ceiling, and decided to join in, looking up without a purpose.

“All year.”

“Very specific, Dolph.”

Adolpha finally spared her a glance and an eye roll.

“Hey, I’m not the only asshole here,” Adolpha defended.

“Granted, but you are the one that realized you were wrong, so how about you start?”

Adolpha considered snapping at her, but she decided against it, not wanting to move backwards in their relationship.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

“Apology accepted, Ado-”

“But you were still a jerk about it.”

“That’s fair.”

“I mean, you tried to manipulate me, you threatened me, you insulted me, you used compliments to mess with my feelings-”

Lavey reached her hand out and put it on top of Adolpha’s to stop her from continuing to count Lavey’s mistakes on her fingers.

“I know what I did, Dolph, and yeah,  _ maybe _ I made a few mistakes here and there, but it worked, didn’t it? I mean, we got here, right? It’s not about the journey, it’s about the destination!”

“That’s not how the saying goes, Lav!”

Lavey winced.

“I always hated that saying,” Lavey muttered.

Adolpha rolled her eyes.

“Alright, listen up and listen good, because I’m only going to say this once,” Lavey started, turning to point at her sister. “Everything I did this year, I did for your own good.”

Adolpha’s ear twitched and she started to growl, but Lavey backtracked.

“At least, everything was an  _ attempt _ to do something for your own good, because, I’ll admit, I’m not perfect, despite popular opinion.”

“For my own good?” Adolpha asked, sounding almost incredulous. “How so?”

“You were  _ stressed _ , Dolph! I mean look at you! You almost had a panic attack when I became team leader because you were such a control freak, and you were forcing yourself into this little box of who you had to be for  _ no damn reason _ ! You needed to calm down and let someone else take charge so that you could… I dunno, find yourself or something?”

Adolpha stared at Lavey with disbelief, and Lavey laughed awkwardly, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck.

“Look, I’m not good at this whole…  _ emotions _ thing, but I really didn’t mean to… upset you, and I’m sorry…”

Adolpha leaned over and wrapped an arm around Lavey and pulled her closer, setting her chin on top of Lavey’s head.

Lavey seemed to consider for a moment before she wrapped her arms around Adolpha too.

“It’s not about the journey, it’s about the destination, and this was the destination,” Lavey said softly.

“Shut up,” Adolpha said, though she was laughing quietly.

Adolpha sniffled.

Lavey wiggled in her arms.

“Are you crying?”

Adolpha tightened her hold on Lavey and didn’t let her go.

“What’d I say? I said shut up and enjoy the journey, so shut up.”

Lavey grumbled for a moment before she relaxed in her sister’s arms.

-

Adolpha and Lavey walked down the hall, finding their teammates waiting for them in the stands.

Lavey had said something, and Adolpha was laughing now, shaking her head at her sister’s antics.

They both took a seat, and Adolpha set her arm around Lavey’s shoulders.

Crystal instantly glanced over.

“Since when are you two so close?” she asked.

“Forever,” Lavey said.

At the same time, Adolpha responded, “ten minutes.”

Lavey rolled her eyes, but she was laughing slightly.

Crystal watched her sisters with a sort of hesitant hope.

Was it over?

Was it finally done?

Had they finally reconnected and finished their bullshit?

Was that too much to hope for?

Crystal hoped not, because she didn’t know how much longer she could take the animosity.


	50. She's Fine

Jin glanced at her teammates for a moment, and she saw that all of them were excited.

Romy and Romelle were both stretching, leaning against one another.

Aella was bouncing up and down on her toes with a grin, looking down the hall.

“Adolpha! Hey!” she called, waving.

Jin turned and gave her older a smile, though it was slightly awkward, considering their last interaction.

Adolpha smiled back, but her gaze fell on the twins.

Or, well, one of the twins.

Romy didn’t seem to notice that Adolpha was there, and she was still communicating telepathically with her sister.

Romelle, however, had turned to look at the Faunus, smiling.

“Hey, Adolpha,” she said, glancing over at her sister and clearly trying to get her to say something.

She didn’t.

“Hey, Romelle, Romy.”

Romy looked up and nodded in Adolpha’s direction, but didn’t speak.

“I just came to wish you four luck,” Adolpha said, glancing at her sisters and smiling. “I know you can do it.”

Jin stood there awkwardly for a moment, wanting to distract Adolpha from Romy.

“Uh… thanks, Dolph,” Jin said. “And… sorry for yelling at you so much.”

Adolpha smiled.

“It’s alright. I’m just glad you’re not my team leader all the time,” she said.

Jin let out a breath of relief before she glanced at her teammates.

“Well, we need to get going, but thanks, Dolph.”

Adolpha glanced around the group before she nodded and said goodbye, withdrawing.

Jin let out a sigh and shook her head, turning to face her teammates and glaring at the twins.

“Come on, we have to go.”

Aella frowned in confusion, but hopped to do as told.

-

“And coming in from the left hand side is team MSSN,” pronounced mason, “composed of Ma'Ashan Zareii, Sycamore Hansen, Sythemore Alaparos, and Noxcosha Yarrow. And coming in from the right is JARR, consisting of Jin Belladonna-Schnee, Aella Belladonna-Schnee, Romy Soliel, and Romelle Soliel!”

Aella wasn’t paying attention, trying to figure out why Jin sounded so mad in her head.

_ Romy, pay attention! _ Jin snapped.

The older twin jumped, eyes wide.

_ I was! _

Jin didn’t respond.

The arena options began to spin, and Aella groaned as she saw the forest option, though she grinned when she saw the desert. That was easier to navigate in the air. So if she could just navigate them there…

_ That’s a good idea. Herd them to the desert section, _ Jin thought.

“Three,” Aella slid her brass knuckles onto her hands and smirked, readying herself, “two,” Romelle grabbed her pocket watch and looked at the time idly, “one.”

Aella was about to guide them to the desert-

But all four had already raced back to retreat into the forest section.

Aella gaped.

_ What?! _ she thought.

_ Well don’t just stand there, go after them, we’ll go on foot, _ Jin thought, taking off at a run.

Aella nodded and then jumped up, letting the wind catch her. She spread her gliders and felt her cape rustling behind her in the familiar way. She let out a quiet laugh as she soared over her sister and teammates, all of them moving so slowly in comparison to her.

She reached the trees, and she could see the other team below her. She reached into her cloak to grab another weapon-

Suddenly, the forest itself was shifting around her, the tree limbs moving oddly and stretching toward her.

_ Uh… you guys seeing this? _ Aella thought.

_ Seeing what? _ Romelle responded.

Aella was about to tell them, but she was distracted.

The tree beneath her suddenly shot up, one of its limbs snatching onto her leg.

Aella screamed in shock, kicking at the tree and almost falling out of the sky. Aella tried to free her leg, but another tree limb reached up and grabbed her arm. She screamed and cried out for help in her mind.

Jin cursed and glanced at her teammates, but none of them had long distance weapons to help her sister.

_ Hurry! _ Jin thought.

_ What in the name of Dust do you think I’m trying to do?! _ Aella screamed in their heads, wriggling as the trees continued to wrap around her and pull her down toward the ground.

Finally, she realized what to do.

She created a slash of air that cut through the tree limbs around her, freeing herself.

She soared higher into the air, retreating back to her teammates and screaming in their heads.

_ No! No forest! Forest bad! The forest is evil! Don’t go in the forest! _ Aella said, stumbling as she landed in front of Jin.

Jin steadied her.

_ We have to go in the forest, that’s where they’re hiding, _ Jin thought.

_ No forest! _ Aella screamed.

Romelle was suddenly smirking.

_ There doesn’t have to  _ **_be_ ** _ a forest, _ she thought.

Jin side eyed her and then her expression changed to one of horror.

_ No. _

_ It’s the only option, _ Romelle replied, fiddling with her pocket watch and watching the time tick.

_ No it’s not, we can go through the forest, _ Jin thought.

_ No forest! _ Aella cried.

_ Exactly! We don’t have to have a forest! _ Romelle continued.

There was a moment of silence while Jin considered what had happened to her sister.

She groaned.

_ Fine.  _ **_Fine_ ** _! One time, but I never want to see that thing again. _

_ You know you love my weapon,  _ Romelle replied.

Romelle then held up her pocket watch. It was a small device, which she could fit in the palm of her hand. She reached up and grabbed the long golden chain… and yanked on it.

A mechanical whirring sound erupted from the weapon, and it began to change. The pocket watch expanded quickly, the gears shifting into place. In a moment she was left with a buzz saw that was several times larger than the watch had ever been, and the circular weapon roared to life with a menacing sound. Romelle hefted it into the air and smirked.

“One deforestation coming up,” Romelle said aloud, smirking at the camera and taking another step toward the forest.

Aella thought she could hear cursing coming from the other team.

_ Stay behind me, _ Romelle thought, raising her weapon in front of her.

_ Yeah, that’s the plan, I’d rather not get hit by it, _ Aella thought. Jin nodded in agreement, and they all lined up behind the twin.

Romelle  _ beamed _ in excitement, raising her weapon and nearing the forest.

The closest tree swiped at her, and Romelle slashed her weapon through the air. The limb struck the ground with a  _ thump _ , and the twin laughed.

She continued her path into the forest, her buzz saw annihilating any tree that came close to herself or her teammates.

_ I see them _ , Aella thought, thankful for her Faunus eyes.

_ Do it, _ Jin replied.

Aella reached into her cloak pocket and grabbed her blow gun.

She went on the tops of her toes to shoot the first dart over Romy and Romelle’s shoulders.

Aella ducked down and watched the dart soar off past her enemies. As soon as it passed them, she used a gust of wind to guide the dart back around.

It struck Sythemore in the back.

Aella laughed when they cried out in shock.

Aella jumped up and fired three more darts in quick succession.

They all shifted in midair and struck their opponents.

Aella was snickering as she hid behind Romelle.

Romelle was still laughing as she mowed the trees around her down.

Romy was rolling her eyes at Romelle, and Romelle missed a branch to all it to hit her sister in the face.

_ Jerk. _

_ I know. _

Aella continued to send out different shots from her blow gun as they advanced through the forest, and Romelle had fulfilled her promise.

They didn’t have a forest anymore.

The other team was panicking now, and team JARR was laughing quietly.

_ Ready? _ Jin thought to her teammates.

_ Oh heck yeah, _ Romelle replied, hefting her buzz saw up and letting it roar menacingly.

Jin started toward the other team, but hesitated when a giant X appeared beneath her feet. Jin was about to think something to her teammates, but she hesitated when she looked up, finding that her Aura was starting to drain. Her eyes widened and she leapt to the side, throwing herself off the X.

As soon as she did, her Aura stopped draining.

_ Don’t step on the X’s, _ Jin thought, raising her hammer and hefting it over her shoulder.

_ Not a problem. Thanks for destroying the environment, Romelle, _ Aella thought, already hopping into the air.

_ Oh, it was  _ **_my pleasure_ ** _ ,  _ Romelle replied.

_ Alright, time to kick some ass! _ Romy thought.

She took a step forward, bringing her cane in front of her threateningly, likely about to shift it into a sword, and landed-

Right on an X.

Jin wasn’t paying attention, considering she was dashing toward their enemies and leaping to avoid the X’s that were landing on the ground.

Romy realized what she had done after a few moments, feeling her Aura start to drain, and she leapt to the side. It didn’t matter, considering her Aura was highly drained already.

_ Romy! What did I  _ **_just_ ** _ say?! _ Jin cried, looking up at the scoreboard and finding that Romy’s Aura had dropped significantly.

_ Not to step on the X. _

_ And what did you do immediately after?! _

Romy hesitated and Jin groaned.

_ Stepped on an X. _

_ Dumbass, _ Jin thought, bringing up her hammer. The closest enemy, Sycamore, was thrown back as Jin slammed her hammer against her. She touched the button on the side, which turned on the rockets on the side of the hammer, strengthening the attack and sending her enemy careening backward at full force.

_ That’s fair, _ Romy thought, putting a hand to her head. For some reason, she thought she felt a headache coming on.

Romelle was behind Jin, and she reached her leg up, blocking the first attack from Sythemore before she brought her buzz saw forward, striking him in the chest.

Romelle laughed as he was sent flying back.

_ This is  _ **_fun_ ** _! _ Romelle thought, pivoting on her heel to bring her weapon up and deflect an attack.

In the back of the arena, Romy was staggering, holding her stomach.

_ I’m nauseous, _ Romy thought. Jin glanced back in confusion.

Romelle didn’t seem to notice, ducking down to avoid an attack and then kicking forward to hit Sythemore in the shins.

Meanwhile, Aella had swooped down low to the ground, and her brass knuckles shifted mechanically, and on top of each of the knuckles, a set of metal claws appeared.

She slashed and struck Noxcosha.

Aella laughed as he stumbled backward, and Aella reached into her cloak pockets as she spun through the air, tilting herself with expertise so that she hovered in front of him.

She threw a set of throwing knives, all of which were smaller than the palm of her hand, and shifted in midair, all striking home. Aella then used a gust of wind to shoot her opponent toward her, allowing her to reach forward and steal the knives out of their jacket and then kicked them in the chest, sending them flying backward.

Aella laughed and then soared into the air just as an X appeared beneath her. She put her knives back in her cloak pocket and spun midair toward her next target.

Meanwhile, Romy clutched her stomach and groaned, leaning back against the one remaining tree.

She screamed as it latched onto her, and Jin spun.

_ HELP! _ Romy cried as the tree latched onto her, pulling her closer and starting to attack.

Jin groaned.

_ Seriously?! You just had to stay put! _ Jin shouted.

Despite her words, Jin was already running across the field at top speed, though Romelle didn’t seem to notice, humming a bit to herself as she swung her buzz saw, connecting it with Sythemore.

The buzzer went off, and Romelle  _ beamed _ in excitement, turning to glance at Aella and wondering how she could help her.

Jin slammed her hammer against the tree, which dropped Romy.

She almost hit the ground, but Jin caught her and held her up.

_ You okay? _ Jin asked worriedly.

_ Do I  _ **_look_ ** _ okay?! _ Romy cried.

Jin stared at her.

_ To be honest? You look like a dying gremlin, but I mean… _

_ She always looks like that, _ Romelle thought.

_ We’re twins. _

_ Did I stutter? _ Romelle replied.

Jin rolled her eyes and leaned down, setting Romy gently on the ground.

_ I’ll be right back, stay here, alright? _ Jin thought.

The twin nodded.

Jin turned and went to join the fighting.

Aella had dove down, and her brass knuckle claws slashed against her closest adversary, slicing them in the chest as they cried out.

As Jin raced to rejoin the fighting, an X appeared beneath her, but she kept running. Like all damage, it was cut in half when it touched her.

She leapt forward, touching the button on her hammer and swinging it with all of her might, causing it to go slamming against Sycamore.

He groaned, and the buzzer went off.

She smirked to herself before she spun, Jin pulling her weapon up in front of her to face her next opponent.

Jin saw Romelle laughing gleefully as she connected her buzz saw to Ma’ashan’s face.

The buzzer went off, and Jin winced. She felt kind of bad for the guy. She’d been hit by Romelle’s buzz saw pocket watch more than a few times, and she could understand his pain.

Romelle was still laughing as she walked over to join her team leader, watching Aella. They had decided to let her take out the last enemy, since they had pretty much already won and Aella always had a bit of a blood lust, and Jin was walking over to Romy.

Jin knelt down gently.

Meanwhile, Aella slammed against their final opponent, slashing them with her brass claws.

A moment later, a buzzer went off, and Jin grinned, hefting her to her feet.

She expected for Romy to stand on her own, but the twin groaned and slipped, so Jin rolled her eyes and grabbed her teammate, throwing her over her shoulder like a rucksack.

_ Come on, we need to get going, the doubles are starting soon, and we need to get her some rest,  _ Jin thought.

_ She’s fine, _ Romelle sent, waving her hand.

_ I’m not fine, _ Romy said.

_ She’s fine. _

_ She doesn’t look fine, _ Aella said.

_ She’s fine. _

_ But she’s almost dea- _

_ She’s fine, trust me. _

_ I’m gonna throw up. _

_ Wuss. You’re fine. _

Romy leaned over Jin’s back and threw up behind her.

_ She’s fine. _

_ If she got vomit on my shoe, she isn’t going to be fine. _

_ I might pass out. _

_ Well… she’ll  _ **_be_ ** _ fine… eventually, at least. _

Romy groaned and Romelle rolled her eyes.

_ Weak ass bitch. _


	51. Greetings

Team RSCC was walking into the arena. It was their first fight of the season, not just the Vytal Tournament. They hadn’t been fighting all year because they wanted to keep their new weapons a secret.

Because of some of their rather… more difficult Semblances to deal with, the four didn’t have an easy go of creating weapons.

They’d gone a few years without them, or, well, at least the triplets had, but Clover hadn’t, he was just clumsy.

The four had spent all year practicing to get to the point that they were at now, and they were pretty confident that they had a shot at this tournament.

Rosemary was the team leader, as the name RSCC, pronounced rascal, would suggest, and she stood at the front of the four. She was of average height, unlike most of the people at Beacon it seemed, and her hair was a light shade of brown that could almost be mistaken for orange, which almost matched the color of her long fox tail that hung behind her, almost touching the ground. Rosemary had on a pair of pink-tinted glasses, a leather jacket over a salmon shirt and leggings, and heels.

Despite her heels, her younger sister, Saffron, was a fair bit taller than her, which made sense, considering Rosemary often called her sister she was a  _ giant _ . She was almost as tall as Jin, though she was a fair bit less broad shouldered. Like her sister, she had on a pair of shades, which were a dark shade of crimson. She had on a short sleeved red shirt, which contrasted the dark black gloves that were on her hands. Thankfully for her sister, she didn’t wear heels, but instead a pair of black sturdy boots. Like Rosemary, she was a faunus, and she had a red panda tail that hung slightly curled at her side, as if it was trying to curl around her leg.

The third and final triplet was Colby. He was short, so much so that he was about Lavey’s height, and he had on a pair of lime green sunglasses that were slightly tipped down his nose just a bit to show his eyes, which were brown, just like both of his sisters. He was dressed in a white hoodie with a green and black letterman-style jacket. Underneath, he had on a pair of black jeans and dark green high tops. His hair was a bright shade of red, which matched the squirrel ears that poke out of his hair. At his side, he had a black satchel, which he had been carrying around for the last few weeks, though nobody could tell what it was in it, nor what its purpose was.

Clover was the final member of the team, and it was immediately clear that he wasn’t related to the three triplets. First of all, he towered over all of his teammates… and everyone at Beacon, actually, considering he was the tallest person in attendance at seven feet tall. He was a broad shouldered man with his long blond hair held up in a ponytail. His face was covered in a light dusting of freckles, and his vibrant green eyes shone in excitement. He had on a crop top black jacket, which was only half zipped, though there was no shirt on underneath it. He had on a pair of maroon red shorts as well underneath, which didn’t  _ quite _ come down to his knees. He also had on a pair of light yellow sunglasses, which his teammates had convinced him to wear. Despite two of his parents being Faunus, he himself wasn’t one.

The four were preparing for their battle, and they had on smirks as they looked at their opponents.

They had been preparing all year, and, despite everyone seeming to think they didn’t have a chance… they were quite ready.

Saffron held her arms in front of her, popping her knuckles with ease.

“You guys ready?” she asked, rolling her shoulders.

Rosemary rolled her eyes, though the effect was probably lost considering her eyes were covered by sunglasses.

“Let’s just get this started.”

“Coming in on the right,” Nora announced, “is team TTIO,” pronounced like tostitos, “oh I love those chips, consisting Tabasco Sapieeha, Tiburon Crombie, Innes Mihail, Oaxaca Sedley. And from the left, we have team RSCC, consisting of Rosemary Adel, Saffron Adel, Colby Adel, and Clover Nikos!”

Colby rolled his eyes.

“We get it, we’re the ones fighting, can we just get the battle going, or do you need to announce it again?” he asked.

Rosemary elbowed him.

Nora hesitated for a moment before she proceeded to randomize the arena type. One side was a type of catacomb-like caves, which were dark and almost horrifying to see, at least to Clover, considering he was the only non-Faunus member of his team. The other side of the battlefield consisted of a grassland, and Clover found that  **far** more appealing, and he hoped they’d get the chance to fight there…

“Three,” Rosemary turned her Semblance on, putting one hand on her hip, “two,” Clover took a deep breath, hoping against hope as he turned his Semblance on as well, “one.”

Clover smirked as he realized it had worked.  **Finally** ! He’d worked on it for  _ all year _ , and suddenly…

It was working!

Rosemary glanced at him and saw the excited expression on his face, and she nodded, knowing that he had finally fixed his clumsiness enough for his Semblance to mitigate his other weakness.

That was  _ perfect _ .

Rosemary flicked the switches on her wrist, allowing her daggers to slide into place. There was a gasp from the Beacon students, who hadn’t seen Rosemary’s weapons before, hadn’t even known she  _ had _ any at the moment. Rosemary smirked, and she flicked through the options for the Dust, which was held in the back of her jacket. Fire Dust was the first to slide into the daggers, shooting down her sleeve and into the dagger itself.

Meanwhile, Saffron had activated her Semblance, and, once more, Rosemary was glad that Saffron’s could counteract her own.

Saffron mentally switched through the Dust that was held in her gloves and boots, picking different ones for each of her limbs.

She put Gravity Dust in her shoes, and she took a flying leap into the air, floating slightly off the ground before she took off with ease, controlling her movements without a spare thought.

“Ready?!” she called.

“Now!” Rosemary shouted.

Saffron clapped her hands together, causing the Fire and Water Dust to come smashing against one another, creating Steam.

The other team, who had been shocked to see Saffron starting to float in front of them, was trying out in shock when the Dust enveloped their senses.

Colby reached into his satchel and pulled out a bow and an arrow, which he nocked into the proper position.

“PULL!” Colby screamed.

Rosemary turned off her Semblance, and Saffron could feel the shift in the Dust around her, could feel its ability to be used normally.

Colby released the arrow, and it latched onto one of their nearest enemies, and it exploded on impact from Fire Dust.

Rosemary had already turned her Semblance back on, and Saffron could feel the shift.

She could barely see through the steamy haze, even as a Faunus, but she could see the lines leading to their Dust all too clearly.

Saffron’s Semblance was Dust polarity, which allowed her to track, manipulate, and use Dust more efficiently and creatively than others. She didn’t even need to utilize her Aura to be able to do so, which was lucky, considering her sister had the exact  _ opposite _ Semblance.

Rosemary had the ability to, when her Semblance was activated, stop anyone within a given radius from activating Dust with their Aura… even herself.

Saffron flew higher into the air with the Gravity Dust, and she switched her water Dust out for fire with a spare thought.

She shot Fire Dust at her enemies, causing them to cry out in shock and go scrambling backward.

She changed the one in her boots and when dropping to the ground, cushioning her landing with a bit of Wind Dust.

She changed the Dust in her boots to Ground, and she slammed one foot against the ground, causing a large wall of stone to erect in front of her opponents, which were trying to run to the right.

The first one slamming face-first against it, and the second one helped Innes to their feet.

Saffron smirked to herself and raced across the ground, using her Semblance to switch the Dust in her shoes to Wind, which she used to propel herself forward.

She flew forward and brought her elbow down on their back, sending them falling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Colby nocked another arrow.

“PULL!”

Rosemary turned off her Semblance, and Colby fired another arrow off. It exploded on impact, and the four started to retreat to the caves.

Clover groaned.

Why did they have to fight in the caves?! Why?! The nice grasslands were right behind them, and they looked so nice and inviting! Why did he have to go into the dark, depressing caves?!

He sighed and jogged forward, reaching down and grabbing his yo-yo in his hand, swinging it around his fingers.

Saffron, meanwhile, had reached out and grabbed the closest enemy to them, Tiburon, and she was now using her Semblance against them.

Poor guy.

Saffron switched the Dust in her right glove to Rock Dust, creating a large bit of rock around her fist before she swung it forward, connecting her fist with his face.

The buzzer went off, and Saffron let him drop to the ground.

“Dust,” Saffron cursed, shaking her head and turning to face her sister. “Did they  **really** go in  _ there _ ?! Why?!”

“You’ll be fine,” Rosemary said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, but it’s  _ annoying _ !”

“You can literally see in the dark,” Colby said.

“But it’s  _ dark _ and I can’t  _ fly _ in there,” she muttered.

“You  **just** learned how to control that, I think you’ll be fine for a few minutes,” Colby replied, shaking his head as he ran past her.

She scoffed and shifted the Dust in her boots to Wind, shooting forward at full speed.

“You’re just jealous that my Semblance is better than yours!” she yelled.

“You  **literally** just figured out how to control it!” Colby shouted before following after her.

Rosemary rolled her eyes and did the same, Clover groaning even as he stepped into the dark caves.

Clover’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief as he stepped inside, his eyes adjusting almost immediately and lighting the world up around him.

“Oh my Dust,” he breathed. “It worked! It worked, Rose!”

“Of course it did,” she said, though he could see through the darkness that she was smiling.

Clover’s Semblance worked differently than most.

His worked by mitigating his biggest weakness at any point whenever it was turned on.

It used to be that, no matter what, his Semblance counteracted his clumsiness, but now, anything seemed like it could become his greatest weakness! Which… didn’t sound great, but his point was that he had gotten better, which meant that his Semblance had  _ several _ new options!

“Calm down,” Rosemary said with an eye roll.

The two hurried inside after their other teammates.

Saffron dashed down the cave, her eyes accustomed to the dark and seeking out the vague imprints of the Dust.

One of their competitors hadn’t been using any, dummy, and she didn’t know how to find him, considering the other two had split up, and she was currently pursuing the first.

She skidded to a stop when she almost hit the wall, and a slow smile grew across her face.

She saw the line connecting her to the Dust, and she tugged on it.

Immediately, she heard them cry out in shock as their weapon, whatever it was, was pinned against the wall in front of Saffron.

She could feel the other person tugging against it, trying to free their weapon, but Saffron held tight as she sprinted forward, chasing her prey.

She saw them, trying to tug their assault rifle off of the wall.

Saffron didn’t give them the chance.

She was standing behind her opponent, and she tugged harshly on their weapon, causing the assault rifle to hit him in the chest and drag him back toward her.

He slammed against her front, and she grabbed him by the jacket, tugging him closer.

He tried to grab at her, but she snatched onto his left arm, his right held up in front of him to stop the assault rifle, which had crept up to his neck, from choking him.

She wrenched his left arm so that it was back behind him, doing the same with his right. She then shoved him face first against the wall and used a bit of Water Dust from her right hand and Air Dust from her left to create Ice Dust, which she used to freeze him to the wall.

Saffron took a step back to admire her handiwork. He was shoved up against the wall, his face pressed against it, with both of his hands locked behind his back, frozen in place.

That seemed to count as incapacitated, right?

As if to answer her question, the buzzer went off.

“See you later, man!” she called, turning on her heel and leaving him there before she dashed off.

Meanwhile, Clover had darted off down the hall, his eyes working far too well in the dim lighting.

He could everythi-

The cave went dark, and he immediately ducked as his senses flared, alerting him to the danger. That must have been his weakness, considering he could hear the weapon swoosh over his head.

He spun, still ducked, and kicked out with his leg, hitting them in the chest and sending them flying backward and hitting the wall.

Clover’s eyes immediately allowed him to see through the darkness, and he shot forward, turning his yo-yo in his hands.

The whirling of mechanics sounded through the air, and his yo-yo expanded until it fell out of his hand, hitting the ground with a  **thud** .

His yo-yo had, almost instantly, turned into a spiked flail, which he now hefted into the air with ease, slamming it against his opponent.

It struck them in the face, and Clover’s eyes lost their ability to see in the dark, but his muscles filled with  **far** too much strength.

He knew what that went.

His retracted his weapon and it shifted forms again, flying through the air toward him and changing as it did until he was left with a viking shield, which he held up in front of him just in time to deflect a blow from a large sword.

His eyes turned back on their night vision and he stepped forward, slamming his shield against his attacker. The moment the shield made contact, he lost his night vision.

But the buzzer went off.

At the same time, Rosemary and Colby were walking through the cave.

“You sure?” Rosemary asked.

“I know how to use my Semblance, Rose, unlike you at the start of the year,” Colby said, rolling his eyes.

Rosemary smacked him.

“At least  _ I _ can use my weapon whenever I want, unlike you.”

Colby shoved her.

“Asshole.”

“Thanks.”

Colby rolled his eyes.

Unlike his sisters, his Semblance allowed him to do something that  _ didn’t  _ have to do with Dust.

His allowed him to separate his Aura from his body and attach to objects.

He typically chose arrows, which was how he was tracking down the only remaining opponent at the moment, considering his arrow had attached some of his Aura to the man’s clothes.

“Are we close?”

There was a gunshot that flew by Rosemary’s head.

“Yes.”

Rosemary growled and let her knives slide into her hands, and she clutched the hilts tightly as she ran forward.

Colby drew his next arrow.

“PULL!”

Rosemary turned off her Semblance, sliding across the ground on her knees and letting the arrow shoot over her head, connecting with their enemy and exploding on impact.

Rosemary rolled to her feet and clicked her Dust into place, currently, she had Electricity Dust in one knife, Fire in the other. She stabbed him, turning off her Semblance for a split second as she did so, while he was stumbling, with both of them, sending both electricity and shooting through him. He stumbled and started to fall to the ground.

She shifted to Wind in one knife, which she hit him in the chest with, sending him flying into the air and slamming against the ceiling.

Before he could fall back down, her other knife shifting to Gravity Dust.

The knife shot out of her hand, and it hit him in the shirt, pinning him against the wall.

“PULL!”

Rosemary threw herself to the ground.

There was a loud explosion, and she instantly turned her Semblance back on.

Her knife clattered to the ground, and she picked it up, sliding it back into place as the buzzer went off.

Suffice it to say…

Team RSCC might have won.


	52. Questions

Lavey was seated beside Ilesha on the couch, and there was an awkward silence that held between them. She didn’t know how to bridge it.

“Ugh.”

Lavey glanced over at Ilesha, almost being shocked by seeing Crystal sitting at Ilesha’s other side. Though, she supposed, she shouldn’t have been, considering Ilesha had leapt over the couch and landed between them.

“What?” Lavey asked.

“It’s just… they’re all so  _ blind _ , I mean… come on!”

Lavey and Crystal both frowned in confusion.

“What?” Crystal asked.

“Who?” Lavey questioned.

“Everyone! I mean, it’s  _ so _ clear.”

Lavey looked over at where Ilesha had gestured, gaze landing on the twins.

Her eyes widened.

“Oh my Dust,” Lavey muttered. “You see it too?!”

Ilesha grinned in excitement, turning to Lavey.

“Yes! It’s so obvious!” Ilesha cried. “Everyone’s so confused! They just need to talk about it! Or, well… you know.”

“I  _ do _ know! Why can’t they just  **talk** about it?!” Lavey hissed.

Crystal was watching the two of them with disbelief.

“Exactly! And don’t get me  _ started  _ on  **her** !” Ilesha cried, gestured at Adolpha.

“Oh, don’t worry about her, I’m  _ handling _ her,” Lavey said, waving her hand dismissively before turning back to look at the other people in the room. “But I am a little worried about…  _ that _ .”

Lavey gestured at Auburn’s entire form.

“Definitely,” Ilesha agreed quickly. “But don’t worry about him,” she waved at Akio, “he’s doing  _ great _ ! I got him all fixed up and ready for the break!”

“That’s good, I didn’t really have time for him this semester, considering everything  _ she _ ,” wave toward Adolpha, “put me through.”

“Team JARR is coming along nicely, despite…”

“That,” the two said together, sharing a knowing smile.

“Yeah, but Aella’s doing  _ great _ ! That little gremlin had her development and she’s being a good sister… yeah, things are going  _ great _ there!”

“Ironic,” Lavey muttered, shaking her head.

“I  **know** !” Ilesha cried.

“And then there’s…,” Lavey trailed off, and both of them turned their gazes to RSCC.

“There’s… too much there to talk about,” Ilesha said, nodding sagely.

“Uh… maybe some other time?” Lavey asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Ilesha cried. “Just… somewhere where people won’t hear us.”

Lavey flushed, and for a moment she forgot what they had been talking about.

Crystal started to cough, her face turning pink and her eyes widening. Lavey didn’t notice.

“Uh… y-yeah, sure.”

“Maybe you can come with too, Cy! We can catch you up on everything!”

Ilesha had turned to look at Crystal some, and she forced herself to nod, clearly unsure if she could get any words out.

Lavey deflated.

Ilesha giggled, her hair crackling with electricity, and Lavey would have sworn there was more than just a few moments before…

“Yeah!” Ilesha hopped off the couch. “It’s a date!”

She held out her hand and snatched onto her shield, the weapon seeming to gravitate toward her.

“Come on, guys!” Ilesha called, waving at her team. “We need to get some rest before the doubles!”

As the four walked out of the room, Crystal and Lavey sat there with disbelief written on their faces.

They glanced at each other, and neither said a word, but it was clear they were thinking the same thing.

_ Did… did she just ask us out? _

-

Ilesha was laying in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling and thinking.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

_ Did I just ask them out on a date?! _


	53. RIP

“Coming in on the left hand side is Team APLE’s,” (pronounced apple) “Ambros Amo and Esopas Borrrajo. And on the right, we have team IMCA’s Ilesha Ajax and Cooper Schnee-Polendina!” Nora cried.

There were deafening cheers for team IMCA, and the two giggled, Ilesha waving her hand at the cheering and reaching down to strengthen her grasp on the shield.

Cooper reached down and grabbed his goggles, setting them over his eyes. Ilesha glanced down at his belt, knowing that he had  _ far _ more tools than that, and she didn’t know if he’d get to use all of them in this fight.

The arena options were shuffled through, but Ilesha hardly paid attention to the process of it.

After a minute, the field had shifted around them to reveal the options. On one side, there was a giant mountain, which reached high into a few clouds, which Ilesha could feel crackling with electricity. On the other side, there was a large field, covered in geysers, which were spurting up randomly.

“Three,” Ilesha felt her shield start to crackle with electricity in front of her, “two,” Cooper reached into his pockets and readied his myriad of weapons, “one.”

Music started to play while Ilesha took off at a sprint toward her opponents.

“They say we are what we are.”

Ilesha saw a fist swing toward her, and she ducked, sliding on her knees underneath it. Ambros stumbled, and Ilesha hopped to her feet, bringing her shield in front of her to deflect a gunshot.

“But we don't have to be.”

Ilesha continued to run past her enemies, leaving them in her wake as she neared the giant mountain.

“No way,” Terresa breathed, leaning forward in her seat. “Is she going to do it?!”

“She better not!” Stacey snapped.

“But… what if it worked?” Alea whispered.

Syntheia smacked her arm.

“I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way.”

Ilesha bounded up the mountain, Cooper and her opponents staring at her in shock.

Ilesha reached the apex, and she held her shield above her head.

“TRY ME!” she screamed.

“I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame.”

Ilesha waved her shield around as the sky lit up with lightning.

“NO!” Stacey shouted from the stands, hoping that she could stop her daughter, despite the distance between them.

“I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams.”

Ilesha smirked and let her eyes fall shut as the lightning struck her.

The crowd erupted in screams, including her parents.

Her opponents froze, watching in horror and disbelief that was echoed by the crowd.

“I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass.”

When the flash had cleared away, Ilesha was lying on the ground, motionless.

Stacey fell back in her chair, numb, her eyes wide.

Syntheia grabbed Lexey and tugged her wife against her chest, squeezing her eyes shut and praying.

Terresa reached out and grabbed both Arlen and Zohra and held them close.

The heart monitor for Ilesha on the boards went still.

“I try to picture me without you but I can't.”

Lavey and Crystal were staring with mute horror. Crystal’s tail had gone limp, and her mouth was covered by both of her hands. Lavey, meanwhile, had gone completely still, but her eyes were filled with tears.

Alea started to laugh.

Beside her, Ivy nodded in agreement, leaning against her friend and laughing.

“She can’t be…,” Stacey couldn’t finish the words.

“She isn’t  _ dead _ ,” Ivy said, waving her hand dismissively. “She’s fine.”

“'Cause we could be immortals, immortals.”

Ilesha jumped to her feet, grinning broadly. Her hair could be heard crackling over the microphones, broadcasting it over the loudspeakers. Her hair was now a brilliant shade of blond, so much so that it could almost be considered white. The audience was filled with screaming.

Lexey almost immediately stopped crying from grief to crying from relief, Syntheia letting her go and staring blankly at her daughter, as if stunned she could be that stupid. Terresa had let their younger children go, and she was staring in disbelief. Alea was still laughing with Ivy.

“Just not for long, for long.”

Ilesha put her hand on the shield in front of her, and a large amount of electricity shot through her and into it.

She’d charged the atoms within the shield… perfect.

“And live with me forever now.”

Ilesha smirked when she saw Cooper. He had snuck up behind their enemies, while she had stopped her heart monitor with a quick shot of electricity, and gotten into position.

“You pull the blackout curtains down.”

Cooper reached his hand out and slammed it against the closest enemy, Esopas, and ran backward.

As they spun, Cooper whispered, “now!” to his electronics.

It went off, and they were sent convulsing to the ground with electricity.

Ilesha smirked and reared her arm back, throwing her shield at full force down the mountain.

Ambros dove out of the way, but Ilesha altered the trajectory a bit, sending her shield slamming against them. It bounced off at an impossible angle, shooting straight toward Cooper.

Cooper leapt into the air, flipping over her shield and landing beside Ambros.

Cooper reached down and planted another weapon on her before he scrambled back out of its range.

“Just not for long, for long.”

Ilesha’s shield slammed against Esopas, and Ilesha laughed to herself, racing down the mountain with giant, bounding steps, just shy of a skip as she went.

“We could be immortals.”

Ilesha held her hand out, and her shield shot to it with impossible speed, slamming against her hand and sending her spinning to deflect a bullet.

She reached her hand out behind her, hitting Esopas.

Cooper, meanwhile, called out to one of his machines, which blew up, creating a cloud of Fire Dust that obscured Ambros from view.

Ilesha spun on her heel and sent a shot of electricity toward their fallen enemy.

A buzzer sounded, and Cooper was already reaching into his pouch.

He grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it against the ground, his night vision goggles already lighting up the area around him as he darted through.

“Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith, is when it's tested again and again everyday.”

Ilesha, meanwhile, took a confident step forward, knowing that the smoke around her wouldn’t hinder her sight.

As soon as she stepped into the smoke, it was clear how brilliantly her body was glowing, considering it lit up the area around her brightly, piercing the smog.

“I try to picture me without you but I can't.”

The crowd was still stunned by Ilesha’s reappearance, but nobody more than her parents and friends. Crystal still hand her hand to her chest, as if trying to reassure herself. Lavey was clutching her seat with force, her knuckles having gone pale long ago.

“'Cause we could be immortals, immortals.”

Ilesha caught sight of their last competitor at the same time Cooper did, and both stepped toward him menacingly.

“Just not for long, for long.”

Ilesha held her hand out, and electricity shot through it, hitting him square on.

“And live with me forever now.”

A buzzer sounded, and Ilesha smirked, turning to Cooper and laughing in excitement.

The two walked out of the smoke cloud, still laughing, and were met by a completely silent crowd.

The music had stopped.

“Thanks for the shield, Stally and Lav-Lav!”


	54. Oblivious

Ilesha was all but skipping out of the arena, and she let out a laugh.

She saw two people standing at the end of the hall, and they looked like they were… running toward her? Why would they be doing that?

“Hey, guys!” Ilesha cried, waving excitedly at Crystal and Lavey.

“Are you alright?” Lavey asked worriedly, looking her up and down.

“Did your heart stop?!” Crystal cried, grabbing Ilesha by the shoulders and starting to inspect her. Lavey popped over her shoulder and joined in.

“No, my heart didn’t stop, silly!” she giggled. “But… I am a little hungry, so if you want to help, come with me!”

Ilesha spun on her heel, almost causing both of them to go falling to the ground, and began to walk off. When she didn’t hear their footsteps behind her, she turned around and frowned in confusion.

“You coming?” she called.

They both gaped at her, as if in disbelief, and only then did she realize why they would be so worried. They must have thought she’d died.

Looks like she hadn’t thought that through entirely… but she wasn’t dead, which meant that it was alright, right?

“Guys, really, I’m fine, just hurry up!”

They both hesitated, glancing at one another, before they trailed after her.

Ilesha grinned when they joined her, and she led them into the festival.

“I am starving! What about you two?” Ilesha asked, glancing at them.

They were still staring.

“Not… really?” Crystal said, though for some reason it sounded more like a question. Ilesha didn’t understand that, so she ignored it.

“We have a match in about fifteen minutes,” Lavey said, not looking at Ilesha.

“Right! That was why I was getting food now!” Ilesha said, as if she had just remembered. “So that I don’t have to miss any of your fight! Oh, that’s going to be a  _ great _ fight!”

Lavey flushed and continued not to look at her, making Ilesha sigh.

It was always like that, wasn’t it? She was the one in the back, who they didn’t pay attention to, who they didn’t look at…

“You know, you don’t have to help me, sorry for bothering you,” Ilesha said, shrugging.

“You’re not bothering us!” Crystal snapped, crossing her arms and glaring.

Lavey nodded, glancing over at Ilesha, causing her to grin again.

“Great!”

Five minutes later, Ilesha had bought all of the food she needed, and the two sisters were helping her carry it back to her seat.

“This is really sweet, you know,” Crystal said shyly. “Getting food for your team and all.”

Ilesha gave her a confused look.

“For my team? What? No, this is all for me!” Ilesha said, gesturing at the countless bags of chips and energy drinks. “I get hungry after I use my Semblance, and I gotta get ready for tomorrow too! They’re sending me to the singles rounds!”

“All of this… is for you?” Lavey asked.

“Yup!”

The two sisters glanced at each other.

“Oh! There’s Jin! Hi, Jinny!” Ilesha waved at their sister, hurrying up the steps and plopping down in the seat next to her.

“Hey, Ilesha,” Jin said. She looked like she was about to say more, but Aella leaned forward and looked at the food.

“That is… a  **lot** of chips… can I have some?” Aella asked.

“No!” Ilesha cried, smacking her hand as Aella reached toward her food. “These are my chips!”

Aella sighed and sunk back, crossing her arms against her chest.

Ilesha glanced at her wrist.

“Five minutes to four!” Akio called.

“Oh, it’s getting close! You need to get to your fight!” Ilesha cried. “Good luck! You’re going to do great!”

Lavey flushed and nodded awkwardly before she took off, muttering something about not being late.

Crystal was about to go as well, but Ilesha caught her hand.

Crystal flushed, her tail puffing out.

“Wait… do you want some chips?” Ilesha asked, holding out a bag.

Crystal stared at her for a moment before the look became incredulous.

“I… sure, Ilesha. Sure.”

Ilesha  _ beamed _ at her, and she passed the food over.

“See you later, Stally!” Ilesha cried.

Crystal nodded and hurried off, Ilesha watching the two sisters go…

Her eyes widened in shock, and she let out a quiet sigh.

She immediately turned to face Jin, eyes wide.

“Jin?” she called.

Jin turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“I think I like your sisters.”

Jin stared at her for a long moment.

“Do you have  _ any _ idea how little that narrows it down?”

Ilesha found that she was floundering.

“The little ones. The… the cute ones.”

“Me?” Aella asked.

“Definitely not,” Ilesha said dismissively.

“Crystal and Lavey?” Jin offered, looking oddly excited.

“Them! Yes, those two!”

“Did… did you just forget their names?” Jin asked.

“I panicked.”

Jin stared at her for a long moment.

“Okay, we’re going to ignore  **that** for a moment, because you just said you like my sisters.”

Ilesha nodded sagely.

“How?”

“What do you mean how?” Ilesha asked, her head tilting to the side in confusion.

“How do you like them? They’re little gremlins,” Jin said. “You could do… so much better.”

“They’re your sisters,” Ilesha said, genuinely offended.

“Yeah, so I should know!” Jin cried, throwing her arms up in frustration.

Ilesha stared at her with disbelief before she glanced away.

“It’s not like it matters anyways. They don’t like me, so it doesn’t really change anything. I thought I was over them, and then…,” Ilesha trailed off, shaking her head.

Aella was staring at her in shock, and Jin didn’t look much better.

“You… were over them?” Jin asked, eyes wide.

“Well, yeah. I had a crush on both of them a few years back, but I got over them. Then… well, I guess I’m not anymore. Doesn’t matter, though.”

“Doesn’t matter…”

Aella burst out laughing, falling over on her side as she did so, shaking her head.

“Oh my Dust! She’s so stupid!” Aella cried.

Ilesha didn’t look up as she grabbed her shmazer, electrocuting her.

Aella cried out, but Ilesha didn’t look at her.

“Sorry about telling you this, must have made it awkward,” Ilesha said.

Jin was still gaping at her.

In the background, Aella groaned.

“Awkward… Ilesha, don’t shmazer me, but… how do you think this is a problem?!” Jin cried.

“Because I thought I was over them, but it turns out I’m not.”

“Ilesha… are you  **blind** ?!”

“No,” Ilesha said, rolling her eyes.

Jin saw her hand twitch, and she panicked, wondering if Ilesha was going to grab her shmazer. She didn’t.

“Then how do you  _ not see _ the way those two look at you?!” Jin snapped.

“They  _ don’t _ look at me, Jin, that’s the whole  _ problem _ ,” Ilesha said, kicking at the ground. “They don’t  _ ever _ look at me. Never have.”

“Yeah, but now it’s because they’re into you!” Jin cried, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration.

“They’re what?” Ilesha asked.

“Oh my Dust,” Jin muttered, “Crystal was complaining the other day about you messing with their feelings, but… you just don’t know, do you?”

“Know… what?” Ilesha asked.

Jin facepalmed.

This… was going to take a while.


	55. Riddle Me This

Lavey had on a small smile, which caused Adolpha to glance at her and raise an eyebrow.

Lavey noticed and coughed, covering her mouth a bit and looking away.

Adolpha would have sworn her sister looked red.

“Ready for the fight?” Lavey asked, reaching down and grabbing her bo staff.

em Adolpha nodded, setting her hands on her belt on top of her hooked swords.

“Going to listen to me for once?” Lavey asked playfully, elbowing her sister.

Adolpha rolled her eyes.

“Long as you don’t say something stupid,” she replied easily.

“Ah, you see, when I say something stupid is  _ exactly _ the moment you should be listening,” Lavey replied, reaching down to grab the microphone and setting it on her shirt.

“So all the time?” Adolpha replied.

“Now you’re getting it,” Lavey said, waving her hand dismissively.

Adolpha laughed quietly and rolled her eyes, following her sister into the stadium.

Lavey was a half step ahead of her, and Adolpha still found it weird, but she rather enjoyed it as well.

For once in her life, she wasn’t the one who had to come up with the plan, didn’t have to be the one to watch her every step and make sure that she was setting a good example. She could just…

Exist.

Adolpha was free to just be who she was, whoever that could be, without having to be afraid of doing something wrong, and the feeling was exhilarating.

She didn’t have to pretend that she was someone else, she could just be herself, and it was all thanks to Lavey.

Looking back, she realized that Lavey had orchestrated this entire thing… for  _ Adolpha’s _ own benefit.

Adolpha might not know exactly who she was anymore, but whoever that was was thankful for what her sister had done for her.

Lavey stopped at the center of the arena, and Adolpha joined her without a second thought.

“Coming in on the right hand side is team PROT’s,” pronounced parrot, “Rufus Thakur and Tern Repsual. On the left hand side is team LAAC’s Lavey Belladonna-Schnee and Adolpha Belladonna-Schnee!” Nora cried.

“Three,” Lavey set her bo staff against the ground, raising an eyebrow as she watched the other team, “two,” Adolpha slid her swords out of their sheaths, “one.”

Lavey was surprised to find that she wasn’t the first one to take off at a sprint, and she raised her bo staff in front of her, side stepping in front of Adolpha.

Adolpha stared in absolute shock as she saw the most likely future.

Tern leapt forward and grabbed Lavey, ripping the needle off of a grenade and planting it against her chest, holding it there.

Lavey gaped at him for a moment.

Just as the grenade was about to explode, Tern leapt off of her, soaring through the air-

Lavey’s bo staff shot out, catching him as he jumped.

No  _ way _ was he getting away with that!

She tugged him backward, not bothering to mess with the grenade that was strapped to her chest.

If she was going to explode, so he was he, damnit.

Just as she tugged him back, the grenade detonated, and Lavey grunted. She absorbed the kinetic energy, but that definitely didn’t stop her from losing Aura, and that  **hurt** .

Tern groaned and stumbled back while Lavey growled.

“What the heck was that, man?!” she snapped, glancing up and looking at their Auras, which were both highly drained.

“Usually works,” Tern muttered, “but  _ someone _ had to be  **petty** !”

Lavey gaped.

“You planted a grenade on me!”

“Yeah, that’s what I do!” Tern snapped.

Lavey growled and tightened her hold on her weapon, considering shifting it to missile launcher form, but a voice cut in.

“What month of the year has twenty-eight days?” Rufus asked, his voice booming over the arena in a way that the microphones couldn’t create.

Adolpha blinked in shock, her Semblance disappearing before her eyes.

“Lav, what’d he do?” she called, tightening her grip on her swords.

“I blocked your Semblances until you answer my riddle, which canno-”

“All of them,” Lavey interrupted. “Every month has twenty-eight days, some just have more.”

The future possibilities returned to Adolpha, and she sighed in relief, starting to race toward the other team.

Rufus stumbled back, staring at Lavey incredulously.

“What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it?” he asked, stammering.

“Someone’s heart,” Lavey said offhandedly, “your kneecaps from fifty yards away, your ego, should I go on?”

Rufus gaped at Lavey.

“T-that’s not the answer… the answer is a promise…”

Adolpha ducked under a bullet that he fired.

“Seems like it worked just fine to me,” Adolpha said, swinging her hooked sword forward and grabbing him by the arm with the hook and tugging him forward. She slammed her boot against his chest, sending him tumbling to the ground.

“What question can you never answer yes to?” he cried desperately.

Adolpha ignored it when her Semblance disappeared from her eyes, using her hooked swords to slash his front.

“Are you dead?” Lavey called, ducking as Tern threw himself at her.

Lavey ducked, letting him soar over her head with ease, and she brought her bo staff up, slamming him in the chest.

Lavey smirked as he groaned, hitting the ground.

“You know, using that grenade on me wasn’t the smartest decision,” Lavey said. She grabbed her staff and swung it in front of her, slamming it against his stomach with all of the energy she had gotten from the grenade.

The buzzer sounded off, and Lavey smirked.

Meanwhile, Adolpha was still fighting their final opponent, and Lavey watched with a slightly bored expression on her face.

“I am a mother and a father but have never given birth. I’m rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?” Rufus asked.

“Yang,” Lavey said.

Adolpha hesitated.

“It worked.”

While Rufus and Adolpha fought, team RWBY watched from the stands.

Ruby was giggling uncontrollably, having fallen against Blake’s side, unable to keep herself steady. Weiss was gaping in shock, eyes wide as she stared down at her daughters. Yang was laughing at top volume, tears appearing in her eyes as she toppled over.

Blake just nodded sagely, a small smile on her face.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“How did that work?!” Rufus shouted.

Lavey glanced up.

“You’ve obviously never met our mothers.”

Adolpha nodded, kicking him in the chest and sending him toppling to the ground.

A buzzer sounded.

Adolpha cheered, turning to Lavey with an excited grin.

Looks like they were going to the finals!


	56. The Search

“I still don’t get it,” Ilesha said, jogging beside Jin as she went to the doubles rounds.

Jin rolled her eyes.

“What is to get?! They like you, idiot!” Jin snapped.

Ilesha then stopped.

“They… do?”

“Yes! I’ve been spelling it out for almost an hour now!” Jin cried.

“What… kind of like me?” Ilesha asked, tilting her head to the side with a mixture of confusion and hope.

“Oh dear Dust,” Jin muttered, “you sound like a third grader, so I’ll put it in your language. They  _ like _ like you, as in, if you tried to kiss either one of them, they would yell ‘finally!’ at you, so calm down!”

Ilesha was staring at her in absolute shock.

“No way.”

Jin facepalmed again. She was starting to worry it would bruise.

Aella groaned.

“We’re gonna be late!” Aella hurried over to Ilesha, reaching up and grabbing her face in her hands, tugging her face down so that she could look her in the eyes. “Way.”

“Way?”

“ _ Way _ .”

“Way,” Ilesha breathed, her eyes going wide with surprise and excitement. “Jin, why didn’t you just  _ tell me _ that’s what you meant?!”

Jin stared at the pair with evident disbelief.

“WHAT?!” Jin shouted.

“Wow, that’s  _ awesome _ ! This is great! Well, good luck on your fight, I’m going to go celebrate!” Ilesha cried.

“Wait, aren’t you going to go tell them you like them?!” Jin called after her.

“Eh, eventually, I need to celebrate!” Ilesha said, waving her hand as she walked off.

“Wh… what?! You’re just going to… DON’T JUST WALK OFF!” Jin shouted.

“What? Can’t hear you, Jinny! Bye!” Ilesha cried, rounding the corner quickly.

Jin’s eye twitched.

-

“Coming in from the left is team BLJN’s,” pronounced blue jean, “Bluford Gachanja and Jalaneel Bokeo. On the right is team JARR’s Jin Belladonna-Schnee and Aella Belladonna-Schnee!”

Jin grabbed her hammer and held it in front of her menacingly.

Aella scrambled to her cloak before pulling out something.

“Is… is that a screwdriver?” Jin hissed.

Aella glanced down at what she had in her hand.

“Uh… yeah, yeah it is.”

“Did you mean to get your sickle?”

“What? Course not!” Aella cried. “I’m a professional! I meant to grab a screwdriver, so I grabbed a screwdriver!”

“If you meant to grab something else, it’s alright, just get it,” Jin whispered.

“I meant to grab the screwdriver!” Aella snapped, tightening her hold on it defensively.

Jin stared at her for a long moment.

“My team is filled with idiots,” she muttered, shaking her head sufferingly.

“Hey!” Aella cried defensively.

“Let’s just get this fight started.”

“Three,” Jin hefted her hammer, “two,” Aella… held up her screwdriver hesitantly, “one.”

Aella shot into the air through the use of her Semblance, gliding on the wind with ease.

Their opponents were watching her worriedly, and Aella was glad to see that Jin was trailing underneath and neither were paying any attention to her. Aella was the perfect distraction… except, perhaps, for the fact that she had a screwdriver as her weapon. But… that was on purpose, of course.

Aella saw one glance over at Jin, and she instantly threw her screwdriver down at them.

They cried out in shock.

“Why did you throw your screwdriver at me?!” they shouted.

Aella laughed maniacally, reaching into her cloak and trying to grab her blow gun.

She came back with a hammer.

“Dust,” she muttered.

Jin stared up at her sister.

Aella knew what Jin was thinking, even without Romy’s Semblance. She’d been able to hear Jin in her head enough over the past semester to understand what her various looks meant.

_ Is she seriously grabbing a hammer?! Is this to prove a point?! We’re going to lose. _

Aella rolled her eyes and glanced back at Jin.

_ Relax, it’s under control. _

Aella swooped down low to the ground, hammer in hand, and slammed into the closest enemy, Bluford.

Aella let out a warcry as she hit him over the head with her hammer before pushing off of him with her feet, shooting the wind at the two. It cut them like knives, and she could see out of the corner of her eyes as their Auras depleted.

She glanced at Jin as she appeared behind their distracted opponents.

_ Why do you do this? _ Jin asked with her eyes.

Aella sent her a smirk and a wink before she took off into the air, dropping the hammer on someone’s head.

Jin rolled her eyes, planting her foot loudly.

This was enough to cause Bluford to turn, just in time for Jin to hit him with the hammer.

Jin, just a moment before she hit him with the hammer, hit the button on the side, which caused the rocket propellers on the side, powering her strike.

Meanwhile, Aella had swooped down, and she grabbed something out of her cloak, hoping against hope that it might be the blow gun…

It was her brass knuckles, and she groaned.

Jin kicked Jalaneel in the chest before she looked up at Aella.

_ Did you do it again?! _ she thought.

Aella couldn’t  **technically** hear it, but she swore that she could hear Jin in her head.

Aella avoided eye contact and swooped down, pressing the button on the side and causing the claws to pop out as she neared their opponents.

She swooped down and scratched the closest one, who happened to be Blueford.

Aella laughed as she picked up some, starting to fly higher over them. She was in the free until-

A hand reached up and grabbed her ankle.

Aella squawked in shock, squirming in the grasp. She was flying far too high for someone to have grabbed her.

She looked down, eyes wide, and found that Bluford was holding her ankle.

He had grown two times his height, and now Aella was squirming.

She looked up, locking eyes with Jin, who sighed in frustration.

She took off at a sprint and slammed against Bluford, who groaned and let Aella go.

Aella let out a sigh of relief and gave her sister a grin before she swooped down again with her brass knuckle claws.

She groaned in frustration when she almost got hit again, and she shoved the brass knuckles back into her cloak. She needed ranged attacks.

She searched through her cloak, dropping everything in her pockets as she went.

“HURRY UP!” Jin yelled.

Aella smacked her sister with a bit of air and rolled her eyes.

She dropped a bag of water, more tools, a few throwing knives (those she threw at her opponents, using the wind to guide them to their targets), and a few more extraneous objects before she found what she wanted, and she grinned.

She held up her blow gun and shoved a dart into it, making sure it was one of the Dust-powered ones, and then shot it with her weapon. She didn’t even need to use her Semblance to make sure that it struck home, and she smirked to herself when it exploded next to her opponent.

She reloaded, watching as Jin body slammed the larger form of Bluford, and Jin smirked as he stumbled.

Jin glanced up at Aella, as if knowing what she was going to say before she did.

Jin jumped out of the way just as Aella reached into her cloak, grabbing a Dust bomb and dropping it on Bluford.

The buzzer sounded, and Aella cheered.

Jin rolled her eyes and spun on her heel, slamming the hammer against their final opponent.

The buzzer sounded again.

-

Aella dropped to the ground unceremoniously, and Jin reached out, grabbing her sister in one arm, holding her up easily.

Aella snickered and climbed over Jin, scrambling over her back and sitting on her shoulders with a smirk.

Jin groaned and glanced up at her.

_ Why do you do this? _ she seemed to ask.

Aella patted her sister’s head before she pointed toward the exit to the arena.

Jin sighed sufferingly before she walked out, her sister still perched on her shoulders.

-

“I have to ask, Jin, how does your team communicate so well without talking to one another?” the reporter asked.

Jin hesitated, looking up.

She saw Romy sneaking toward the cameraman.

_ Don’t you dare, you little gremlin, _ Jin thought, rolling her eyes.

Romy hesitated, glancing back at Jin for a moment before she sighed, sulking, and crossed her arms against her chest.

“I… suppose that we’re just close,” Jin said, forcing a smile.


	57. Betrayal

“Coming in from the left hand side is team DGWD’s,” pronounced dogwood, “Danish Balu and Dolce Geirsson. On the right, we have team RSCC’s Rosemary Adel and Saffron Adel!”

The options for the arena started to shift by, and the four watched it intently, just like the whole stadium. On one side, a dense rainforest appeared, springing up from the ground as if they were watching a time lapse. On the other, an entire arctic tundra appeared, complete with the harsh winds and chill.

Saffron eyed it with disgust, and she shivered, muttering something about hating the cold. As if to illustrate her point, she rubbed her arms with her gloved hands and shook her head.

Rosemary felt almost  _ bad _ for the other team, considering one of them looked like they had Dust-powered explosions.

Those would  **not** work in her proximity.

And… she always felt bad for who Saffron was fighting, at least… lately she did. It hadn’t been like that when they were younger.

Saffron and Rosemary had always been a bit… harder to train than their friends and brother had been, considering their Semblances made it difficult to work with weaponry at all.

That meant that Saffron and Rosemary hadn’t had the chance to spar with their friends, considering all of them would have been able to beat the Dust out of them without a spare thought.

But now… well, now that they’d both finally figured out how their Semblances worked, and created weapons that worked perfectly with them, and now they both felt on top of the world, perhaps even unbeatable!

“Three,” Saffron adjusted her gloves lazily, as if they truly were accessories instead of her weapons, “two,” Rosemary clicked her swords into place, mentally reminding herself which Dust was in which order, “one.”

Saffron was about to take off, but one of their enemies raced off into the tundra, and she froze.

They looked over their shoulder and found that the sisters weren’t following, so they started to wave their hands, clearly wanting their attention.

When that didn’t work, they pulled out one of the Dust bombs and threw it toward them.

Saffron rolled her eyes and waved her hand, shoving the bomb off stage with her Semblance. They stared at her in horror, and Saffron snickered.

“You take that one, I’m not going in there,” Saffron said, shoving Rosemary forward.

“What?! Why me?!” Rosemary hissed.

“I’m not  _ prepared _ for the tundra! You have a  **jacket** !” Saffron picked at her thin shirt as their other opponent ran past them into the rainforest.

“And whose fault is that?!” Rosemary growled.

“Doesn’t matter,” Saffron said, waving her hand dismissively, “now get going, we have a fight to win!”

Rosemary was about to growl at her again, perhaps call her sister a few choice words, but Saffron had already darted, slightly hunched over, into the rainforest.

Rosemary groaned before she ran toward the tundra.

-

Saffron leapt into the air with ease, using a bit of Gravity Dust in her boot to propel her higher, grabbing onto a tree branch and tugging herself up. Her tail swung behind her idly as she searched through the forest with keen eyes. She spotted her prey within moments, and she rolled her eyes. They were running through the forest frantically, as if afraid that Saffron would track them down.

Thinking about it, she supposed that was a legitimate fear, considering she had, and she was now watching them go.

She considered for a moment what she was going to do, and decided that tracking them down would be  _ far _ too much work, so she stretched out, letting out a yawn, and fell onto the tree branch, laying down. One of her legs hung off of it, swinging idly beneath her with her tail.

She could wait for them to come to her. After all, she’d need her strength in the singles round tomorrow.

-

Rosemary was grumbling under her breath. Her sister had, once again, left her to track down the annoying opponent, and she definitely didn’t want to be doing this, especially in the snow, but what was she going to do? Saffron had already darted off into the forest, and finding her in her natural habitat was near impossible.

She heard the crunch of boots on the ground to her right, and she spun, her daggers sliding out of their sheaths in her sleeves. It was hard to see through the tundra, the winds whipping around her and causing her to squint, but she could hear their footsteps. She switched her Dust to fire, and she quietly walked forward, her heels barely making a sound on the tundra floor.

She snuck up behind them, raising her knife, and stabbing them in the back, turning off her Semblance. They screamed in pain at the sudden heat contradicting the cold around them, and Rosemary shifted the type of Dust she was using to gravity.

She let both of her knives shoot out of their sheaths, striking her opponent with impossible force, before she called them back with the Dust.

Her Semblance shifted on as she regained possession of her knives, and she almost laughed when her opponent threw a Dust grenade at her.

Rosemary’s hand shot out, and she grabbed it, pulling it close to her chest. It didn’t go off, obviously, and she darted forward, eyes searching his form through the wind around them that threatened to take away her sight.

She slid across the ground as he tried to punch her, and she planted the bomb at his feet before quietly racing off. As soon as she was a few yards away, she turned her Semblance off.

There was an explosion behind her, signaling that his grenade had gone off after she had stopped inhibiting, just as she had planned.

She spun around and found that her opponent was struggling to pick himself off of the ground. She switched her Semblance on automatically and darted forward, her knives sliding into position.

She dashed toward him, angling herself so that she was facing the edge of the arena, and closed the distance.

Rosemary switched the Dust in her knives to Air before she stepped in front of him silently, stabbing both of her knives into his front and turning her Semblance off.

Immediately, they were thrown backward at incredible speeds due to the Dust, and Rosemary smirked as she heard the buzzer go off.

He must have fallen off the arena.

What a shame.

Rosemary bent down and collected a bit of snow in her hands, smirking.

-

Saffron heard the buzzer go off, and she rolled her eyes. Did her sister always have to make such quick work of their competition? That took all the fun out of it!

She heard footsteps underneath her, and she silently pushed herself to a crouching position, looking down at her opponent while she balanced on the balls of her feet and her palms.

They were walking through the rainforest slowly, looking around as if expecting to find Saffron somewhere on the ground. That was ironic.

Saffron dropped off of the branch, using Gravity Dust to slow her fall and let her land silently on the ground behind her opponent.

In her right fist, she switched the Dust type to Water, and she sprayed it out at her opponent. They spun, now  _ thoroughly _ soaked, and Saffron smirked, raising her left hand.

“It  _ was _ fun playing with you, but it seems like it’s light out… or is it lights on?”

Saffron activated the Electricity Dust in her left hand, sending it shooting at her opponent, who didn’t even have the time to scream, the electricity shooting through the water that covered them.

The buzzer sounded, and Saffron turned, walking out of the forest with ease and meeting her sister in the middle with a smirk.

“That went pretty well!” Saffron said, nodding sagely as she looked around the arena.

“They’re about to be  _ even better _ ,” Rosemary said.

Saffron glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Come here,” Rosemary said, beckoning her forward.

Saffron stepped closer, and Rosemary gestured for her to lean down.

Saffron did so, frowning in confusion and opening her mouth to ask what was happening-

Rosemary reached her hand up in one fluid motion, shoving it against Saffron’s face.

Along with a pile of snow that she had picked up.

Saffron  _ shrieked _ . In fact, it was so loud that the crowd thought that Saffron had somehow had her Aura broken.


	58. The Couch

“I don’t see why this is such a big issue,” Alea said, shrugging.

“She almost  _ died _ !” Stacey snapped.

“No she didn’t, and she was  **fine** !” Alea cried. “It was the heart monitor.”

“She stopped moving!” Lexey cried emotionally.

“To sell the act!” Alea defended.

“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” Syntheia said, crossing her arms menacingly.

“What?! Why?!”

“You  **laughed** !” Terresa shouted.

“Because it was a good trick!”

“You  **laughed** at your daughter almost dying!” Stacey shouted.

“But she  _ didn’t _ almost die! I knew that!”

“No, no,” Syntheia said, waving her hands to silence her wives. “The real reason you’re sleeping on the couch tonight is because she gets it from you!”

“From me?!” Alea shouted. “I’m not smart enough to think that up!”

“She didn’t think it through!” Stacey snapped.

“Clearly she did, because it worked!” Alea cried. “We are  _ not _ grounding her for winning that match.”

“Then you’re sleeping on the couch, and we’re going to finish this discussion later,” Syntheia said.

Alea hesitated.

“Moms, what’s going on?” Zohra asked from down the hall, wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

“Nothing, sweetie, just go back to bed… and don’t grow up to be like your older sister,” Lexey said.

“But she’s  **amazing** ! Did you see her in that fight?! She had  _ everyone _ fooled! It was so awesome when she turned off her heart monitor!” Lexey’s eye twitched. “She said that over the break she might help me perfect my weapon!”

“Go to your room!” Lexey snapped. “And think about what you said.”

Zohra trailed off, mumbling under her breath.

“You’re sleeping on the couch,” Terresa reiterated.

Alea turned on her puppy eyes, staring at her wives.

Stacey looked away, arms crossed with a frown. Terresa looked up at the ceiling. Syntheia stared at her head on, unaffected.

Lexey was biting her lip, clearly considering changing her mind…

Alea turned her focus on Lexey.

“Please?” she asked in her best pleading tone.

Lexey growled and turned her semblance on, shutting her emotions off completely and staring back at Alea with dark black eyes, unaffected by her stare.

Alea groaned internally.

“Don’t you love me?”

“Yes, but she learned this from  _ you _ , and if  **you’re** not going to let us ground her for this over the break, that means we have to teach her that there are repercussions for your actions… through the person who taught her to do this,” Syntheia said.

Alea cursed in her head, watching her wives trail off into the bedroom.

She pulled out her scroll and sent a message.

-

Ivy sat up in bed, reaching over Natalie, who groaned, to grab her scroll.

“Alea needs me,” Ivy said simply, crawling over Rachel, who grunted in shock, and out of the bed.

“What?!” Rachel cried.

“Alea needs me, she’s sleeping on the couch tonight. I’ll be back.”

-

Alea heard the front door open, and she  **beamed** in excitement, running over.

Despite seeing her best friend pretty much constantly, she still got excited about it every time.

“Hey, Ives!” she whispered.

Ivy smiled distractedly, not quite looking at her for a moment before she focused on her face.

“Come on, I’ll take care of you.”

Alea smiled lovingly.

“You always do.”

-

The bedroom door opened, and Natalie and Rachel looked up.

“Good, you’re back, I thought you might be ditching your wives for your best friend again, which is just a jerk move,” Rachel muttered, moving closer to Natalie to make room for Ivy on the end of the bed.

“Definitely,” Natalie agreed, pulling Rachel closer.

“That’s why I didn’t ditch you,” Ivy said.

Ivy sat down on the bed, curling up beside Rachel.

Rachel was about to let herself fall back asleep, until-

The bed sunk under another form, who curled up at Ivy’s side with a goofy grin.

“Hi!” Alea hissed into the darkness.

“You’re  **kidding** me,” Rachel muttered.

Ivy moved closer to Rachel.

“Just shut up and go to sleep.”

“I swear she loves that woman more than us,” Rachel hissed to Natalie.

“Mmmm,” Natalie agreed tiredly.

“Yes, that’s why I married you two, decided to get pregnant with you two, and have been married for several years to you two instead of Alea,” Ivy said sarcastically. Natalie idly wondered when Ivy had learned to be sarcastic. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”


	59. Arriving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a rather lesser known song... but it's PERFECT! Thanks to Rab for it! Rab has been helping out a lot with ideas, comedy, songs, AND notes! Thanks, lessis!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJIJM6m_ypo

“So… I didn’t hear my sisters call me last night shrieking in excitement, nor did I hear their squealing from down the hall at any point, so I assume that you did  **not** ask them out yesterday,” Jin said pointedly, arms crossed as she stared at her friend.

“I, in fact, did  _ not _ ask them out!” Ilesha said, the skip in her step slowing as she glanced at Jin.

“Why not? If you don’t make a move soon, you’re gonna miss your chance. You better do it soon,” Jin gestured down the hall to where team LAAC was sitting, “now’s your moment!”

Ilesha flushed and shook her head in embarrassment.

What a shame, looked like she was too shy.

“I’m going to keep pestering you until you admit you’re in love with them.”

“This isn’t some movie, Jinny, this ‘scene’ you made won’t play, I won’t say I’m in love with them,” Ilesha cried, blushing deeply. She glanced down the hall to make sure that neither had looked at her. She breathed easier when she saw that they hadn’t.

“Can you feel it? If you don’t tell them, disaster’s in the air, so just shut up and do it,” Jin said, throwing her arms up in frustration as she hissed at her friend.

“Jinny, when we were younger, we were barely even friends,” Ilesha said.

“But then something changed,” Jin replied.

“I’m not prepared,” Ilesha finally said, holding her hands up in front of her as if to hold off Jin. “If I told them, I… I think I’d have a heart attack! For  _ real _ this time!”

Jin was going to keep arguing with her, but she saw Ilesha glance at her wrist.

Akio, from across the hallway, called out, “five mins, Ilesha!”

Jin jumped in shock.

Why had he-

“Thanks, Kio!” she called, turning to face Jin. “We… we should get going. We can continue this conversation later, alright?”

Jin doubted that.

-

Akio was hyping his friend up for her fight.

“Okay, you’re going to do great. Just stay calm, listen to your music, and get in the zone.”

Ilesha nodded at the advice.

“Just take her out.”

“I don’t want to take them out!” Ilesha cried, her voice cracking just a bit as she blushed.

Akio stared at her.

“What? Take who out?”

Before Ilesha could stutter out a response, Akio set his hand on her shoulder.

It was a poor mistake, considering how quickly the electricity was flowing through her.

The lights flickered when he touched her, and he let out a startled cry before dropping to the ground.

Ilesha stared at him, shellshocked.

She wanted to lean down and help him, but in her panicked state, she was worried that she might shock him again.

There was a beat where she just froze before she spoke.

“Cooper!” she called, her voice almost a whine. “I think I just killed Akio!”

“You  **what** ?!” Cooper shouted from the other room.

Akio groaned.

“Never mind! He’s alive! We just need to take him to the infirmary!”

Mavros and Cooper skidded into the room, and she gave them thankful looks while apologizing to Akio, on the verge of tears.

She wasn’t sure if he could hear her.

-

“And for the first match of the singles rounds,” Nora cried dramatically, “coming in from the right side is Jin Belladonna-Schnee of team JARR! A fan favorite! From the left, we have team IMCA’s leader, Ilesha Ajax, also a fan favorite!”

Ilesha giggled as the people around her cheered, and she looked into the stands.

Her eyes landed on Lavey and Crystal in the crowd, and she flushed a light shade of pink, looking away quickly. She didn’t notice that, for once, their gazes were locked on her.

Nora started up the music.

“Well I guess I’m on a roll,” Ilesha sang along quietly under her breath, tapping her foot to the beat.

Jin rolled her eyes.

“Cause everybody seems to know, I got sunshine every move that I make.”

“Three,” Nora announced, “two,” Jin raised her hammer in front of her threateningly, “one.”

Jin shot toward her at full speed, taking large, intimidating steps.

Ilesha continued to hum to the song.

“Go ahead and tell your friend! If they don’t know then where they been?” Ilesha sang, gently bouncing back and forth to the music.

Jin neared her, and Ilesha took one step back, steadying herself for her next move without Jin seeming to notice.

“Leaving gold dust every step that I take.”

Jin swung her hammer, but Ilesha spun to the side, on beat to the song.

“Never gonna stop, I take it higher!”

Ilesha reached one hand into her jacket, yanking her shmazer out of its holster. The sound was familiar to Jin, and her eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn’t thought that Ilesha was allowed to use that in the tournament! She certainly hadn’t been before!

“Going to the top, I’m a real high flier!” Ilesha sang, kicking her leg out and tripping the already stunned Jin.

“This will be the day that my dreams are made!”

Ilesha shot as much electricity as she could through the conduit in her shmazer, shocking Jin and causing her to tumble to the ground, convulsing just a bit.

“Whoo hoo!” Ilesha sang.

Both Crystal and Lavey watched in shock for a long moment before they both abruptly shot to their feet, taking off at a sprint in opposite directions.

“What could be better than this?”

Ilesha kicked Jin a bit to roll her over.

Jin opened her eyes.

“I’m on top of the list!”

Ilesha sprayed the maise, and Jin screamed.

“What could be better than this? Yeah here I am, arriving!”

Crystal and Lavey hurtled through the halls at top speed, not caring when they bumped into random people.

“Hey, this is me arriving!”

Crystal and Lavey skidded to a stop when they reached the entrance to the arena closest to Ilesha. They had both taken opposite paths, but they had ended up at the same destination.

“Hey, mamma, look, I made it!”

Ilesha waved into the stands, taking in the looks on her mothers’ faces, which varied from smug (Alea and Syntheia), on the verge of tears (Lexey), loud cheering (Terresa), to a bit terrified (Stacey).

“Move, I gotta flow!”

Crystal and Lavey stared at each other for a long moment before they both glanced at Ilesha, who was still beaming in excitement, then back at each other.

There was a long moment of silence, both looking into the other’s eyes.

Finally, both of them reached out one arm for the other, and they shook hands.

“Cut me loose I gotta go.”

Crystal and Lavey both held out their hands again, starting to play rock paper scissors.

On the first throw, they both picked rock.

On the rematch, one picked paper… and the other scissors.


	60. Heart Attack

The music stopped, causing Ilesha to hesitate in her victory and look up at the speakers, frowning just slightly.

People were still cheering now, but it was awkward just to stand there while they did it, especially with no music.

She could hear  _ dozens _ of people crying out in shock at how she had done that, clearly wondering how she had won.

“Uh, well… if you want to know how I won that so quickly,” Ilesha said, gesturing at Jin, who was still rolling around on the ground. “It’s because I used my weapon, which I like to call,” Ilesha lifted her weapon into the air, “the shmazer.”

There was a hushed awe that came over the crowd.

“It, uh… well, I call it that, because it’s a shank,” she showed off the knife, “maise, and a taser.”

They all stared at her, several shushing the others around them. The cameraman focused on her, zooming in. Ilesha guessed that was an invitation to continue.

-

Crystal and Lavey finally finished their second game of rock papers scissors.

-

“As you can see, it was capable of taking out one of the best future Huntresses I know!” Ilesha cried. “In  _ one _ hit! And with a few adaptations, it can be powered without a Semblance!”

There were murmurs from the crowd, and Ilesha guessed that meant that it was a good thing for her to continue. After all, she had no idea what to do now with so many people staring at her and no music playing…

“And, best of all…,” Ilesha trailed off when music started to play, grinning and looking up.

She recognized this song. She’d listened to it a few times and she liked it a  **lot** … but she thought she was going to like it  _ far _ more after today.

“Puttin' my defences up.”

Ilesha smiled and swayed back and forth.

“'Cause I don't wanna fall in love.”

Ilesha considered continuing her impromptu advertisement.

“If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack.”

She looked up and saw that two forms were racing toward her on the battlefield.

“Never put my love out on the line.”

Crystal and Lavey both hurried over, and Ilesha hesitated, glancing at them and frowning.

“Never said yes to the right guy.”

Ilesha looked around the arena, wondering if she was supposed to have left. Was that why they had run out here? But no, the arena door hadn’t opened on Jin’s side, that meant that they had opened the door on her side to get to her. Why?

“Never had trouble getting what I want.”

Lavey rolled her eyes as Ilesha looked around in confusion, though a small smile fought its way onto her lips.

“But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough.”

Crystal looked at her expectantly, her tail fidgeting behind her. It had frizzed out on the edges a bit, making it look poofy as it stuck up.

“When I don't care, I can play 'em like a Ken doll.”

Lavey and Crystal both glanced at each other as they stopped in front of Ilesha, both flushing before they glanced away from each other.

“Won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball.”

Ilesha looked down at her friends as they closed the distance between them, standing exceedingly close to her. Ilesha flushed a bit, wondering if she should say something to them… but after everything Jin had said, it was awkward.

She was nervous that, despite both of them liking her, she would mess it up, or maybe… maybe they wouldn’t be like their mothers and then argue and that would be a mess and maybe it would be better if she kept her stupid mouth shut.

“But you make me wanna act like a girl.”

Crystal and Lavey were looking up at her with identical expressions that Ilesha couldn’t figure out.

“Paint my nails and wear high heels, yes you.”

Crystal and Lavey finally glanced at each other once again, and Crystal sighed in frustration, making Ilesha wonder if she had done something wrong. She thought about asking.

“Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand.”

Crystal flushed. To be honest, she had expected Ilesha to do  _ something _ , though she guessed that, looking back, it didn’t make sense. Ilesha had never been very good at picking up all of those little signs.

“You make me glow.”

Crystal hesitantly stepped closer to her, Lavey looking away and taking one step to the side, her arms crossed against her chest as she waited for her sister.

“But I cover up, won't let it show.”

Crystal reached her hands up hesitantly, putting them on Ilesha’s shoulders before slowly slipping them around her neck and pulling just a little closer to her.

“So I'm puttin' my defenses up.”

Ilesha stared down at Crystal, her face flushing just a bit, though Crystal had turned a dark shade of red.

“'Cause I don't wanna fall in love.”

Crystal pushed herself onto the tips of her toes and tugged down her friend a bit, though Ilesha was slow to move down.

Crystal was impatiently staring up at her, though she was still hesitant.

Ilesha didn’t seem to understand what was happening, and Crystal was paralyzed, not knowing what to say or do to get Ilesha to see what she was doing.

“If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack.”

Lavey cleared her throat pointedly, causing Ilesha to jump and glance at her before turning back to Crystal. She thought for just a moment before her eyes widened in shock.

“Never break a sweat for the other guys.”

Ilesha suddenly seemed to realize what Crystal was doing, and her heart started to pound in her chest, not knowing that Crystal’s was doing the same. Was… was Crystal really trying to kiss her?

“When you come around, I get paralyzed.”

Ilesha took a deep breath, and Crystal was shocked as the other girl moved closer to her, pulling her against her chest and leaning down.

“And every time I try to be myself, it comes out wrong like a cry for help.”

Crystal flushed, wanting to sink into the moment, but she was scared that Ilesha might pull a repeat of what happened last time and embarrass her in front of all these people… but then she sighed and thought “screw it.”

She closed her eyes and closed the distance between the two of them.

“It's just not fair, I gasp for air.”

Ilesha’s mind went blank. Or, well, it  _ mostly _ went blank, but there were a few thoughts that shot through it. Most of those were filled with excitement and disbelief.

She’d thought about doing this for _years_ , and now she finally got the chance to **kiss** _Crystal_!

“It feels so good, but you know it hurts.”

Crystal, meanwhile, felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She had grabbed Ilesha tightly around the shoulders, pulling her down further and holding her closely, as if she was worried about Ilesha pulling away suddenly, but the arms wrapped around her waist said otherwise.

Everything was right with the world for her. After months of trial and error, she had finally gotten what she had been dying for.

There was a tap on Crystal’s shoulder, and reality was brought crashing in on her.

She reluctantly started to pull back, and Ilesha slowly let her go, looking dazed as her eyes blinked a few times, clearly wondering why Crystal had pulled back.

“But you make me wanna act like a girl.”

Lavey flushed at the music as Crystal stepped away from Ilesha.

Ilesha’s eyes widened as she saw Lavey standing there, and she panicked for a moment, wondering if Lavey was mad at her for kissing Crystal. Jin had said they both liked her, right?

“Paint my nails and wear perfume, for you.”

Lavey stepped closer to Ilesha, who wondered vaguely if she was going to get slapped. Or, well… knowing Lavey, it’d be something  _ far _ more painful than a slap.

“Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand.”

Lavey was having difficulty breathing as she stared up at Ilesha. She had kissed Crystal, and looked  _ quite _ pleased about it, but… Lavey was nervous that Ilesha wouldn’t want to do the same with her.

“The feelings got lost in my lungs.”

Ilesha looked like she was about to say something, but Lavey didn’t give her the chance.

“They're burning, I'd rather be numb.”

She reached her hands up and grabbed Ilesha behind the neck, tugging her down and connecting their lips.

“And there's no one else to blame.”

Ilesha froze. Wait… what?

Lavey was… Lavey was kissing her? That didn’t make any sense.

She just kissed her sister, which meant that…

Ilesha went cross-eyed as she looked down at Lavey, standing up a bit.

That meant… they were both willing to… 

“So scared I take off and I run.”

Ilesha hadn’t moved.

Which meant… she hadn’t been flirting with both of them. Just Crystal. And that meant that she was going to date Crystal, and Lavey, just like before, would just be there.

“I'm flying too close to the sun.”

Lavey pulled away from Ilesha, regrettably, and took a step back.

“And I burst into flames.”

She went to run off stage.

“You make me glow, but I cover up, won't let it show.”

Lavey took off, but a hand caught her wrist, tugging her backward.

“So I'm puttin' my defenses up.”

Lavey didn’t want to, but she let herself be pulled back into Ilesha’s arms.

“Wait,” Ilesha said quietly, sounding panicked.

Ilesha bent down and connected their lips again.

Lavey realized what this meant, and she instantly locked her arms around Ilesha’s shoulders, jumping and grabbing her with her legs.

“'Cause I don't wanna fall in love.”

Lavey held her tightly, though she was smiling into the kiss as she clutched her. Ilesha had stumbled backward. She, thankfully, regained her balance.

“But I think I did anyway,” Crystal whispered after the song had ended, glancing over at her sister and Ilesha.

A part of her was still a little grossed out at the sight, but she focused on how happy she was for both of them.

That was easy to do when she was on the verge of giggling herself. She still couldn’t believe that Ilesha liked them back.


	61. Which Sister?

Ilesha turned away from Lavey and Crystal, the former still holding onto her and trying to subtly get her attention again while Crystal watched impatiently, tapping her foot in a way that could almost be described as frustrated.

Ilesha had on a goofy smile.

“See? The shmazer even gets you the  _ prettiest _ girls! But… well, you can’t have these ones, because they’re taken!” Ilesha said, grinning at the camera before giggling.

Lavey rolled her eyes and reached one hand up cupped Ilesha’s face, turning her to face her.

“You know,” she whispered, clearly trying but failing to keep her voice from carrying over the microphone and into the speakers all over the stadium, “most people have left the arena by now.”

Ilesha’s eyes widened and she giggled.

“Right! Here, let me-”

Ilesha went to put Lavey down on the ground, but Lavey clung to her and shook her head.

Ilesha frowned for a moment before she flushed and giggled again.

“Right… well, let’s go!”

Ilesha ignored Jin behind her as she groaned and pushed herself to her feet shakily.

Ilesha strode out of the arena, but she paused next to Crystal, giving her a shy smile. She slowly reached her hand out, and Crystal flushed and grabbed it tentatively.

Ilesha beamed at her and started to walk back out with a skip to her step.

-

Team RWBY was sitting in the teacher’s stands with varying expressions.

Weiss was gaping openly, her jaw dropped and her eyes wide as she watched her daughters walk out of the arena with their new… girlfriend? Love interest? Honestly, nobody knew what to call them. But that was  _ not _ the point, considering she had just watched two of her daughters kiss the same girl in front of national television, which was… a lot to deal with.

Blake thought that this was a… surprise, considering, when Crystal and Lavey were younger, they never gave Ilesha a second look, but, well, she couldn’t say she wasn’t happy. Maybe that girl would be able to talk some sense into her daughters the next time they were about to get into trouble. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?

Ruby and Yang glanced at each other, and both of them shared a fond smile, as if they were both thinking the same thing. It was sweet to see that their daughters were continuing the new family tradition, though… they did wonder if they were happy that it had to be  _ Ilesha  _ of all people, considering she had just tased and maised their other daughter, who was limping out of the arena and grumbling to herself something about next year.

Meriah giggled and clapped her hands.

Finally!

-

Alea cheered loudly for her daughter. Not only had she won the match, but she’d won the girls she had been into since she was… how young had she been when she’d first mentioned that she liked the two sisters? Alea wanted to say it was somewhere around twelve to thirteen, but the interest had gone away at fourteen. Looks like someone had been able to respark those crushes… or, well,  _ two _ someones.

Terresa had stared in shock for a long moment before she reached into her scroll and started to type away, a small smirk on her face. She was  _ clearly _ happy for her oldest, but she also had something that she was planning that made Alea a little nervous.

Lexey was crying quietly, wiping at her eyes. She was mumbling something about her daughter being too young for this sort of thing and whispering vague threats about beating up whoever dared to hurt her daughter’s heart. Terresa glanced at her and reached out, patting her on the shoulder gently. Lexey fell against her side and sniffled, burying her face in Terresa’s shoulder and muttering something about killing Lavey and Crystal.

“Whatever you say, Dear,” Terresa said, rolling her eyes as she continued to tap away.

Stacey was still staring at the arena with her eyes wide, as if she was in a state of shock at what had just happened. She hadn’t moved, and Syntheia, who sat beside her, was starting to worry that her wife hadn’t breathed since Ilesha had won her fight, and that was troublesome, even by Stacey standards.

Syntheia herself wasn’t that surprised, considering Ilesha was clearly Alea’s daughter. Sure, she had traits from all of them (some from Syntheia that she herself wished hadn’t been passed down to Ilesha), but she had been and probably always would be most like Alea in personality. And, if Alea was a charmer, then there was no doubt in Syntheia’s mind that Ilesha was going to be one too.

Arlen and Zohra were both watching their older sister in awe, Zohra cheering alongside Alea.

-

Nora burst into the teacher’s section of the stadium.

“Bitches better have my money!” Nora cried.

Blake’s ear twitched and she turned with a glare.

“I can’t believe we bet on this,” Blake muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, you’re the one who bet it would be Colby for Lavey and Clover for Crystal. It’s not my fault you were heteronormative.”

Blake scowled at her.

“I was  **not** , take your Dust dam-”

Blake glanced to her right, where some of the younger children were standing. She stopped herself before she could say anything bad.

“Just take your money,” Blake growled, tossing some Lien at Nora.

“You too,” Nora said, turning to the rest of the room.

Yang grumbled and pulled some Lien out of her pocket. She had bet on Romelle and Rosemary.

Weiss rolled her eyes. Her choices had Saffron for both of them. She had been  _ so close _ ! She had been sure when she saw that picture from Akio that her daughters had been looking at that Adel kid…

Ruby had bet on Mavros for Lavey and Cooper for Crystal. She silently handed the money over.

Coco grumbled and handed over her money. She could remember casting her bets.

_ / _

_ Coco considered, running a hand down her chin. Velvet rolled her eyes. _

_ Colby… he made sense, right? He was roughly Lavey’s size. _

_ And Rosemary… she and Crystal would be good together, right? _

_ / _

“How did you  _ know _ ?!” Ruby cried, her voice sounding almost like a whine.

Nora smirked.

“A magician never reveals tricks!”

_ / _

_ Nora hefted the dart in her hand and stared at the board, squinting. It had every child that Lavey and Crystal had grown up with, excluding their six siblings. _

_ She covered her eyes and threw Lavey’s dart. _

_ She opened them, finding that it had landed on… Ilesha? _

_ That was a weird guess, but she never doubted the board of decisions. _

_ She grabbed the second dart, Crystal’s, closed her eyes, and repeated the process. _

_ It struck right next to Lavey’s. _

_ Looks like her bet was made. _

_ / _

“Guess I’m just a genius!”

She actually  _ did _ feel like a genius, considering she had had that song, Heart Attack, queued up for Ilesha  _ just _ in case her bet came to fruition. And it looks like it had worked!

-

“So… what happened at the fight?” Akio asked, sitting up a bit in his sick bed and wincing.

“Well,” Ilesha glanced behind her, finding that Lavey and Crystal were both standing by the door with slightly impatient expressions on their faces, “first, I beat up your sister.”

Akio smiled a bit.

“I assumed, considering your Aura isn’t broken.”

“And then I advertised the shamazer, and the-”

“Wait, you what? You can’t just speed past that-”

“And then I kissed your sister, and then I kissed your other sister.”

Akio blinked.

“You  **what** ?!”

“I beat Jin,” Ilesha said, grinning.

“And then?”

“I told people about the shmazer because it was awkward without any music.”

Akio nodded, gesturing for Ilesha to continue.

Behind her, Lavey and Crystal were silently looking between each other and then to Ilesha.

“I kissed your sisters.”

Akio blinked at her.

“Those sisters?” he asked, gesturing at Lavey and Crystal.

“Yes.”

“Finally.”

“I know right?!” Lavey and Crystal cried as one. They glanced at each other. Looks like they had agreed on  _ several _ things lately.


	62. King of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tregrx4bNLI
> 
> I highly suggest you listen to this one

“Be careful,” Crystal said worriedly, reaching out and setting her hand on Ilesha’s arm.

Ilesha glanced down at her arm and then giggled, looking over at Crystal with an excited smile on her face.

“Don’t get yourself hurt, we kind of need you to survive this,” Lavey said, clearly trying to sound gruff. She was glancing at Ilesha with a look of concern.

“Hey, it’s just Saff, we’ve all fought her a thousand times… and beaten her a thousand times. I’ll be fine,” Ilesha said, trying to calm her… girlfriends? Were they dating? She had no idea, but she guessed that… right now that wasn’t the most important thing, even though it was a good question.

“But she’s been doing… remarkably well in this tournament so far.”

“Yeah, but so have I,” Ilesha said with a little laugh.

Lavey rolled her eyes, but there was a small, fond smile on her face.

Had she always looked at Ilesha like that? Certainly not, Ilesha would have noticed.

Perhaps… that was a new thing? It must be. When had it started?

Ilesha couldn’t put a date on it, nor did she think she wanted to. She was too afraid that it hadn’t been that long, that her new… whatever they were hadn’t liked her nearly as long as she had liked them… didn’t like her as much as she liked them.

“Just don’t get too pompous, alright?” Crystal asked sufferingly, staring up at Ilesha with a caring light to her eyes.

Ilesha started to giggle again. She  _ still _ wasn’t used to them looking at her like this. In fact, them looking at her at all was still a shock, so she would need a little while.

“I promise, I promise…,” Ilesha hesitated, looking down at them consideringly.

Crystal flushed and stared back up at her hesitantly, moving jstu a bit closer and pushing onto the tips of her toes-

Lavey shoved her out of the way with her side, grabbing Ilesha’s face as she leaned down and connecting their lips.

Ilesha made a sound of shock and thought about pulling away from Lavey, for Crystal’s sake, but she was quickly distracted by Lavey. She didn’t think it was fair to blame her for that when Lavey was just  _ right there _ !

After a minute, Ilesha heard a familiar voice cry out, and Lavey was shoved away from her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she started to stand up, checking on Lavey, but she was distracted when arms looped around her neck, tugging her back down.

Ilesha didn’t protest in the slightest when Crystal took Lavey’s place after a moment.

All her worries from earlier had been destroyed. How could she be upset when the two of them were so close?

The answer?

She couldn’t.

-

“You’re going to do great, don’t even worry,” Rosemary said confidently, patting her sister on the back. “You’re going to beat her, it’s not even going to be a  _ competition _ .”

Saffron went to run a hand through her hair, but Rosemary caught it, not wanting her to mess it up.

“I haven’t before,” Saffron muttered, sounding a bit self conscious.

Rosemary hadn’t heard Saffron sound like that since she had figured out how to use her new weapons.

“We  _ could _ have sent someone who has beaten her before,” Colby muttered.

Saffron ignored him, and Rosemary kicked him in the shin. He cursed, and Saffron quietly laughed.

“See? You’re already feeling better. Want me to kick him a few more times?” Rosemary offered.

“Maybe later,” Saffron said, smirking. “But I’ve got a fight to go win.”

-

Walking onto the arena, Saffron was nervous. She had fought Ilesha a few times when they were younger, and, like every fight she had been in, she had lost.

But now, as she stood a few feet away from her childhood friend on the arena, she realized something.

This was going to be so Dust damn easy.

Ilesha smiled at her as she pulled her shmazer out of her sheath.

“I don’t think that’s going to be your best bet, Il,” Saffron said, glancing down at her nails and inspecting them.

Ilesha giggled.

“We’ll see about that, Saff.”

“We will, won’t we?”

“On our right hand side, we have Ilesha Ajax, team leader of team IMCA and a frontrunner for this year from the start! On the left, we have Saffron Adel, member of team RSCC, and surprise entry to the singles round!” Nora cried over the cheering crowd.

It was fair for them to have not expected Saffron, nor her team, to have made it this far, but Saffron still felt a little insulted by it.

“Three,” Ilesha raised her shmazer, “two,” Saffron rolled her eyes sufferingly, “one.”

The music started, and for a long moment, there were no words.

The two girls stood just a few feet away from each other, Ilesha swaying to the beat.

Saffron continued to look at her nails… even though she had a glove on.

Ilesha grew a little bit impatient as she looked at her, the words finally starting up as Ilesha shifted, seeming like she was about to take off.

“King of the world!”

Ilesha took off at a sprint toward Saffron, her shmazer clutched in her fist tightly as she took off.

Saffron waved her hand dismissively.

The shmazer, as Saffron could sense, had a piece of Lightning Dust that was used as a conduit to allow Ilesha’s attacks to travel further. Saffron smirked as her opponent gaped.

“All rise if I ever get close to ya.”

Saffron took a slow, almost lackadaisical step forward, the other girl hesitating. She shifted the Dust in her gloves and boots purposefully.

“All eyes on my every move now,” Saffron sang along with the song, making sure her voice carried into the microphone for all to hear, her hands coming together in front of her, starting to focus.

“I strike fear in the heart of the people.”

In front of Saffron, her gloves started to glow as she concentrated. Ilesha took a step back, and Saffron smirked to herself as she finally got the hard-light Dust to work. This was the type of Dust that had taken Saffron the longest to learn, even if her mother used it all the time.

“Bow down in the presence of lethal.”

In front of Saffron, her mother’s weapon had appeared.

Coco and Velvet gasped along with the crowd, eyes wide as they leaned forward in their seats.

“Is that my…,” Coco couldn’t finish her question as she saw her daughter take a confident step forward.

Coco had never seen her daughter move with such confidence, with such surety. When had that happened?!

“If you wonder what to call me.”

This was Saffron’s  _ favorite _ type of Dust. She moved the pieces of the gun with practiced certainty, having played with it quite often when she was younger, and it shifted from its purse form to the gun form.

“If you're finding that the words are falling short.”

Saffron raised the gun and pointed it directly at her opponent.

“If you wonder what to call me.”

Saffron turned on the Gravity Dust in her boots and took off at an impossible speed, her boots making her lighter on her feet than she had any right to be, especially carrying a gun as heavy as she did.

“You can call me king!”

As she ran, Saffron pulled the trigger on the gun. Ilesha was thrown back by the force, trying to dodge out of the way as she raised her shield. Saffron thought that the weapon was nothing more than an inconvenience to her attack.

“You can call me king of the world!”

Saffron used the Dust in her hands to change her weapon into another one she had seen a lot growing up.

Nora’s hammer.

It wasn’t that her replica was perfect, she wasn’t her mother, but Saffron knew enough of the details and the overall shape of the weapon.

It was  **more** than enough.

She planted her feet, using the Dust in her boots to cause her stance to become more sturdy.

“Come on, you can try to come at me.”

Ilesha raised her shield desperately as Saffron swung her replica of the hammer, and it connected with the shield, causing a loud  **_clang_ ** that echoed through the entire stadium.

“In a second you'll be wondering what's happening,” Saffron whispered into the microphone, though Ilesha saw her. Her eyes widened.

Saffron took her right shoe off with a practiced motion, kicking it forward between Ilesha’s spread legs.

Saffron then tugged on the Dust in her boot, shifting it in midair so that it arched through the air the way she wished.

The boot hit Ilesha in the back of the head harshly, and she cried out in shock.

Saffron saw her stumble forward, and she took the opportunity immediately.

Ilesha stumbled, and Saffron used the Gravity Dust in her left boot to propel herself into the air. She slammed her hammer against the ground to gain more momentum and balance herself (this was far harder to do when she only had one shoe) and flipped upside down.

Her shoe slipped onto her foot, her guiding it just a bit as she arched through the air.

“On your knees and you're begging for mercy.”

Saffron came slamming down to the ground, landing on top of Ilesha’s falling form harshly.

She used the Gravity Dust, still in both of her shoes, to add extra speed to the fall.

Saffron smirked as she looked up, finding that her opponent’s Aura had already depleted greatly.

“Your own blood tells you that you're unworthy.”

Saffron looked up as Ilesha stumbled to her feet. Her eyes met Colby’s, and he looked away. Rosemary gave her a supportive smile, and Saffron turned back to her fight.

“If you wonder what to call me.”

Saffron turned back to the fight, finding that her friend was now standing.

“If you're finding that the words are falling short.”

Saffron changed the Dust in her weapons to Ice, and she slammed one of her boots against the ground, causing ice to form underfoot and cascade across the ground toward Ilesha.

“If you wonder what to call me.”

Ilesha slipped and cried out in shock while Saffron watched her slide slowly backward, scrambling to get up.

“You can call me king! You can call me king of the world!”

Saffron shifted the weapon in her hands into a familiar form, taking that of Pyrrha’s spear.

Saffron now had a fish in a barrel, ready for shooting.

“Everybody's gonna see.”

Saffron threw the weapon, and it struck Ilesha, causing her to groan. She had dropped her shield long ago, and it now lay, forgotten, on the ground.

“Bow down, bow down.”

Saffron leapt into the air, her Gravity Dust in her boots letting her soar over the ice she had laid down, Ilesha staring up at her in shock and a bit of fear.

“This is my destiny, destiny.”

Saffron let herself drop to the ground in front of Ilesha, and she leaned down close, smirking.

“Here comes a king.”

Saffron smirked and let a bit of Dust fall out of her glove onto her opponent.

“Everybody's gonna see.”

The Dust that had landed on Ilesha was Gravity, and Saffron used it to send her flying into the air. For just a moment, she hung, suspended in air, clearly confused as to what was happening and, more importantly, how she could stop it.

Saffron smirked and her finger twitched. Immediately, Ilesha was sent slamming down against the ground in front of Saffron with a loud  **_thud_ ** that seemed to shake the stadium around them as it was broadcasted through the speakers.

The buzzer went off, and Saffron’s smirk widened.

“Bow down, bow down.”

Ilesha was laying on the ground in front of Saffron, panting, and the Faunus felt her tail starting to wag just a bit. She froze it in place, staring up at the camera.

“This is my destiny, destiny.”

Saffron stepped over her friend and walked toward the exit to the arena.

“Here comes a king,” Saffron sang quietly.

The crowd was stunned for a long moment before the cheering  _ erupted _ for Saffron as she stepped out of the arena.

She slowly and calmly took off her microphone and took a few steps away, making sure it wouldn’t be able to hear her for what she did next.

Saffron stopped and took a deep breath.

“YES!” she screamed, jumping up and down in excitement.

She’d done it! She’d finally done it! It had taken years of frustration and practice, but she had finally shown what she was capable of! She had always  _ known _ that she could do something like that, could take control of a fight and end it in moments, but she’d never…

She’d never been able to.

But after all that practice this year, and finally getting her weapon right…

She’d shown them, shown  _ everyone _ , what she was capable.

Saffron didn’t think she could be any happier.


	63. And the Winner is...

Ilesha groaned as she rolled over dramatically on the sickbed.

She pouted.

Crystal raised an eyebrow, looking down at her.

“You  _ do _ know that your Aura didn’t break, right?” she asked.

Ilesha nodded.

“So you  _ really _ shouldn’t be in that much pain, right?” Crystal continued.

“Probably not.”

“So why are you doing the puppy eyes?”

“Because I was hoping they’d work on you.”

“Well, they don’t.”

Ilesha kept looking at her.

Crystal glanced away, but she could still feel Ilesha looking at her.

“They  _ don’t _ , Ilesha.”

Ilesha was still watching her.

Crystal groaned.

“ **Fine** !”

Crystal moved closer to her bedside, rolling her eyes and flushing just a bit.

“What do you want?”

Ilesha reached out and grabbed Crystal’s hand in her own.

“W-what a-”

“Better.”

“What?”

“I’m feeling better already. Thanks, Stally.”

Crystal flushed and tried not to look at her.

“You’re welcome,” she muttered.

-

Lavey sighed. Crystal had said she was going to check on Ilesha, but Adolpha had wanted Lavey to stay behind with her and discuss strategy, after what they had seen Saffron do in the last round against Ilesha.

Lavey had told Adolpha that she was going to be fine. After all, Adolpha had made it all the way here to the finals because she had done  _ amazing _ , which Lavey had said, but her sister was still nervous, so here Lavey was, trying to calm her down.

Before she could continue, she saw Adolpha’s ear twitch, and her sister turned to look behind her, smiling at the four forms that walked toward them.

“Hey!” Adolpha said.

Lavey rolled her eyes. She noticed that Adolpha’s voice had changed from how it had been before, sounding far more excitable and even higher pitched.

Dust, that girl…

Lavey’s eyes widened.

_ Shit, is that what I sound like with Ilesha?! _ she thought worriedly.

She hoped not.

Jin and Aella waved and greeted their sister, but they both knew that Adolpha wasn’t paying attention to one of them, her gaze locked on one of the twins.

Romelle greeted her too, and Romy made a noncommittal sound, though Adolpha smiled at it.

“We just came to wish you good luck,” Jin said.

Lavey could tell that she was thinking something at her teammates, though obviously she couldn’t tell what.

“Yeah, you’re gonna do great!” Aella cried excitedly. “Show that dumb Adel what the Belladonna-Schnee name  _ really _ means!”

“I’ll try,” Adolpha said, laughing a bit nervously.

Romy rolled her eyes, not looking at Adolpha.

“You’re gonna do great, Adolpha,” Romelle said, ignoring her sister, “you’re a great fighter, and you haven’t lost a match yet, so don’t let a few fancy tricks fool you!”

Adolpha glanced away from Romy, staring at Romelle. She smiled, her head ducking just slightly as she looked.

“Uh… thanks, Romelle, that’s really sweet.”

Romy glanced at Romelle.

“Yeah, well… go out there and kick some ass, okay?” Romy asked, kicking something on the ground.

Romelle rolled her eyes.

“I’ll try.”

Lavey grabbed Adolpha by the hand, sending a dirty glare, and then tugged her away.

“Come on, you’ve got a match to win.”

-

“Coming in on our right is Adolpha Belladonna-Schnee from team LAAC, a fan favorite to take this year’s tournament victory! And on the left we have Saffron Adel, who, in a shocking turn of events,” Saffron huffed, “has made it to the finals round!”

Saffron didn’t know why it was necessary that she said that, but she sighed and got ready, trying to shove the thoughts that circled through her mind.

_ / _

_ Saffron groaned, panting heavily as she pushed herself to her feet, grabbing at her side. _

_ “How do you think you’re going to beat her if you can’t even beat me?” Colby asked, a light air of taunting to his voice. _

_ Saffron didn’t say anything, raising her sword in front of her. _

_ “I’m working on it,” Saffron gritted out. She could feel the bruises that were going to form later. She didn’t want to think about them right now, not when the only thing that mattered the fight. The fight had  _ **_always_ ** _ been what mattered. _

_ She swung again, but Colby ducked under Saffron’s fist, hitting her in the chest with his elbow. _

_ Saffron yelped and stumbled, hissing as she skidded against the ground. _

_ The backdoor slammed open, and Velvet raced outside. _

_ “Saff?!” she cried. She helped her youngest daughter to her feet. “What’d we tell you about fighting?” _

_ Saffron spit the dirt out of her mouth. _

_ “Not to,” she growled. _

_ Velvet hesitated. _

_ “No, we said to have one of us with you to make sure you don’t get hurt. Your Aura’s broken, sweetie.” _

_ “Didn’t notice.” _

_ She had. _

_ “Why don’t you head inside? I’ll be in in a second.” _

_ Saffron stepped inside, waiting by the door. _

_ “Colby, you  _ **_know_ ** _ that Saffron is fragile! She hasn’t even unlocked her Semblance yet! You need to be careful!” _

_ Saffron wrapped her tail around herself and she took off at a sprint, racing up the stairs and almost tripping due to the bruises on her knees. _

_ She made it anyways, and she slammed her bedroom door closed behind her. _

_ She wasn’t… she wasn’t fragile. _

_ Just because she hadn’t unlocked her Semblance didn’t mean that she was fragile. _

_ She… _

_ Saffron slammed her fist against the wall, ignoring the pain that shot through it. _

_ She wasn’t fragile. She could  _ **_do_ ** _ this. Didn’t matter how many times she was slammed against the dirt like that, as long as it got her there. _

_ / _

_ “I did it!” Saffron cried in excitement. “Rose, did you see?! I finally got it to work!” _

_ “It was  _ **_amazing_ ** _!” Rosemary said, running forward and pulling her sister in for a tight hug. _

_ They’d been working on figuring out the perfect weapon for Saffron for months now, and she had finally figured out how to use her gloves and boots without falling on her face! She thought that she might even be ready for the tournament! Maybe she could go to the doubles round! _

_ “Great job, Saff!” Clover cried, letting out loud whoops while he clapped his hands. _

_ “Yeah, only took you seventeen years,” Colby muttered. _

_ Saffron flinched. _

_ Her brother stood, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed against his chest sullenly. He wasn’t looking at her, but he was glaring at the ground. _

_ Saffron nodded, turning back to the rest of the gym. _

_ / _

_ “Saff, maybe it’s time you came back to the room, we haven’t seen you much the last few days… some of our teachers said you haven’t been to class in a week,” Rosemary said. _

_ Saffron hit the punching bag again, instinctively switching the Dust with her Semblance. She had to be  _ **_perfect_ ** _ with her timing on that, had to know how to use them. _

_ “Doesn’t matter, I’ve been practicing.” _

_ “That’s not enough, Saff.” _

_ Saffron punched again, this time swinging so hard that the bag flew off of the hook that held it to the ceiling. _

_ She was shocked, but she didn’t have time to be excited at what she had done. She spun on her heel. _

_ “It never is, is it, Rose?  _ **_Nothing_ ** _ I do is.” _

_ “Saffron, you know that’s not true,” Rosemary admonished gently, reaching out and setting her hand on top of Saffron’s. _

_ Saffron flinched when she hit the finger she had dislocated last week. She pulled away before Rosemary could realize what was wrong with it. _

_ “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m… I’m going back to the room, I need to get some sleep.” _

_ Saffron didn’t mention that she intended to be back here in three hours after a nap. _

_ She didn’t have to, the look in her sister’s eyes told her that she knew. _

_ / _

Saffron had worked hard for this moment, had worked her entire life.

Sure, she’d won a few fights. Before and during the tournament, but this…

This was it.

If she could beat  **Adolpha** , she could finally show how much she’d grown, that every time she’d hit that dirt, every time her Aura had had broken, there had been a reason, there had been a greater purpose that it had been leading up to.

Adolpha had always been the apex of their friend group, had been the oldest and maybe even the strongest.

Saffron had always wanted the chance to fight her. To  _ really _ fight her, instead of just getting beat up the moment she stepped up to fight her.

This was it. This was her chance.

“Three,” Adolpha unsheathed her hooked swords, “two,” Saffron closed her hands into fists and she let her eyes fall shut, taking one final breath in, “one.”

Saffron reacted instantly. Her eyes shot open, the Dust in all of her weapons shifting.

She lifted off the ground immediately, using Gravity Dust, and she opened her hands.

There was no holding back, not saving her strength. If she couldn’t win this fight, there was no reason to save any energy for later. To Saffron, there  _ was _ nothing besides the fight. There never had been.

Her right hand crackled with electricity as Adolpha raced toward her on the ground, eyes calculating as she tried to figure out how to get to Saffron in the air.

Her left hand buzzed with fire, wanting to escape her hold and seek out her enemy.

Her right foot was filled to the brim with ice, and her left itched to make the world collapse into quakes.

Adolpha leapt into the air toward where Saffron was hovering, suspended with the secret piece of Gravity Dust she kept in her belt, but the rock beneath Adolpha shot up, hitting her in the chest.

Adolpha was sent flying backward.

As she arched through the air, fire shot toward her, engulfing her.

She screamed in shock and pain, but it was nothing to Saffron’s ears. She’d heard herself scream worse than that.

She didn’t notice as Adolpha’s Aura began to quickly deteriorate.

Electricity sought her out next, crackling as it raced through the air. Underneath her, ice spread across the ground, reaching Adolpha just as she landed and allowing the electricity to be carried more effectively.

Saffron waved her hand dismissively, and the arena underneath Adolpha opened up, leaving a hole that she fell through, hitting the ground beneath where they fought, simultaneously lowering her Aura enough for her to be eliminated, and eliminating her by removing her from the arena itself.

The buzzer went off.

Saffron felt numb.

She slowly lowered to the ground, though her Dust was still at the ready, as if she was expecting for someone else to appear and demand a fight.

Nora was announcing something, but Saffron didn’t hear as she slowly walked out of the arena, deaf to the loud cheering around her.

Everything was quiet, everything was numb.

She fumbled to take off her microphone slowly.

Once it was off, she continued her slow walk through the halls.

Suddenly, a form appeared, skidding to a stop as they took a turn.

Rosemary.

“Saff!”

Her voice was distant, but it was the first thing that Saffron had heard since she’d won.

Since she’d won.

She’d… she’d won.

She’d beaten Adolpha, had won the tournament.

Everything hit her at once. The cheers outside, the screaming of the fans, her sister grabbing her in a tight hug, and the tears welling in her eyes.

She grabbed her sister tightly, collapsing into her arms.

“I did it,” Saffron breathed.

“You did it,” Rosemary said gently, guiding her to sit on the ground. Saffron didn’t notice.

She’d won.

The words were still foreign, and the feeling of victory was as well. She didn’t think she had ever won at something…

At least, she couldn't remember anything important that she had won before.

But…

Saffron looked down at her hands, pulling away from her sister slightly, and flexed her gloved fingers.

She had won.

The words were starting to have meaning, to instill her with excitement.

Through her tears, she started to laugh. It was quiet at first, nothing more than an exuberant giggle, but it quickly turned louder, so much so that she could hear it echoing down the hallway.

She grabbed her sister in a tight hug, jumping to her feet.

She had  **_won_ ** !


	64. Breakdown

Lavey looked up, seeing Adolpha walking out of the arena with a small limp, staring down at the ground.

“Hey, Dolph, you alright?” Lavey asked worriedly.

Adolpha sniffed, and Lavey took a step forward.

Adolpha curled in on herself.

“I’m sorry.”

Lavey frowned in confusion, glancing around her as if expecting to find someone else for her sister to be apologizing to.

She didn’t find anyone else, obviously, so she turned back to her oldest sister, a look of confusion on her face.

“Sorry? For what?” Lavey asked, reaching out and putting one hand on Adolpha’s shoulder comfortingly.

“I lost. I cost us the tournament.”

Lavey blinked. She hadn’t been expecting  _ that _ .

“So?”

Adolpha gaped at her, tears in her eyes, almost having spilled out.

“It’s my fault. I messed up.”

“So what?” Lavey asked, shrugging. “People mess up.”

Adolpha squeezed her eyes shut, putting her hand on her sword.

“Not me.”

“I’ve seen you screw up  _ several _ times, Dolph.”

The tears that started to spill out of Adolpha’s eyes told Lavey that that had  **not** been the right approach.

“I don’t  _ get _ to mess up, Lav,” Adolpha growled, turning and kicking the wall in frustration. “I never have. I’ve always been the oldest, the one that our parents wanted you all to look up to, little miss perfect. I messed up, and I cost us the Vytal Tournament! I thought that, for once, I had improved, changed a  _ little _ , but it turns out I just got worse. Couldn’t even do it right when I finally listened, could I?”

Lavey grabbed her sister before she had the chance to walk off.

“Adolpha, you don’t  _ have _ to be perfect. It’s alright for you to mess up sometimes. In fact, it’s great, because that means you’re a person!  **Nobody’s** perfect! So you lost to Saffron, who cares?! I definitely don’t! Did you see her out there? Girl had some  **issues** to work through! If it means that much to you, then we’ll work harder and beat her next year! But the point is… we don’t  _ have to _ , Adolpha. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone! So what if you lost? We all do it sometimes! You don’t have to apologize for not being perfect.”

Adolpha sniffled and Lavey reached out, putting her arms around her sister.

Adolpha collapsed into the hug, and Lavey smiled just a bit as Adolpha thanked her.

She, obviously, wasn’t happy to have her sister crying, but if this was what it took for her to have a breakthrough, then Lavey was more than happy to hold her until she was done.


	65. Streamers

Lavey walked into the team LAAC dorm room with a small smile on her face, a bit of mischief in her eyes, as if she was planning something. She was always planning something, something that Adolpha had learned quite well over the course of this semester and was both frightened and impressed by.

“It’s the end of the semester tomorrow, so we’re going to have a party in the dorm room,” Lavey said offhandedly.

Adolpha looked up and, for a moment, considered saying that there was no way that she could do this. There was no way they were having a party in their dorm room. But then she hesitated, memories of the year passing through her mind.

“Okay.”

“And we need streamers. Adolpha, you’re going to pick them up.”

“Okay, what color?” Adolpha asked, starting to sit up and putting her book down.

She suddenly froze, a memory playing through her mind. She could hear Lavey’s voice.

“And when I say that we’re having a damn party at the end of the semester, you’re going to ask what color of fucking streamers am I going to buy for your party.”

Adolpha’s eyes widened in absolute disbelief.

“Oh my Dust,” she breathed.

Lavey beamed.

Crystal’s scroll tumbled out of her hands, hitting the ground and breaking the stunned silence.

“She said it,” Crystal muttered. “She actually said it.”

Lavey cackled.

“Indeed she did, my dear sister, just as I said she would, just as I told you she would!”

Adolpha was still frozen, staring at her younger sister in absolute shock.

“I can’t believe she said it,” Crystal breathed.

Lavey was still witch cackling for a long moment, but she composed herself enough to speak.

“Of course she did. Because when I say that I’m going to get something done, it gets fucking done.”


	66. The Party

“And cheers!” Ilesha cried. “To Saffron, victor of the Vytal Tournament!”

“Don’t forget-”

Ilesha cut Jin off.

“Right! And Rosemary, her  **amazing** partner for the doubles round!” Ilesha continued, raising her energy drink into the air and giggling. “You guys did  **great** !”

“I was  _ going _ to say don’t forget-”

“Oh! How could I forget you, Clove! You were  _ fantastic _ too!”

“The team! I was going to say the team!” Jin snapped.

“Right! Team RSCC! You guys were amazing!” Ilesha cried, opening her thirteenth energy drink.

“Babe, maybe you’ve had too many of those-”

Ilesha spun, somewhat clumsily, toward Crystal,  _ beaming _ in excitement.

“Babe! You called me  **Babe** !” Ilesha said.

Crystal flushed darkly.

“W-well, I-”

“Aww, you’re so  _ cute _ !” Ilesha cried, jumping down off of the table she had been standing on and landing with impossible grace for someone who was acting as she was.

Ilesha leaned down, and Crystal felt her heart start to race. Her eyes fell shut-

Ilesha grabbed her behind the head and gently pulled her closer, leaning down and setting a kiss on the top of her head.

By the time Crystal had been able to register what had happened, Ilesha was already walking off with a small skip to her step.

Crystal glanced to the side, locking eyes with Lavey, who was looking between Ilesha and Crystal.

Crystal didn’t need to say anything, she knew that Lavey had watched the interaction as well.

-

Ilesha giggled and leaned against Akio.

“I think they  _ really _ like me. And that’s good, because I  _ really _ like them, Kio.”

“I know,” he smiled and chuckled, “you told me. Several times. And then you talked about my sisters lovingly for an hour. It was gross.”

“Nothing about them is gross!” she said, gently smacking him on the chest and laughing.

“So what’s the issue? Why are you over here talking to me when you could be over there?” he gestured at where Crystal and Lavey were sitting, both trying to be secretive about the glances they shot Ilesha’s way.

They were failing, just as they always did.

Ilesha sighed sullenly.

“I don’t really know what we are. I mean, they both kissed me, so I want them to set the boundaries. I mean they’re sisters and they  **both** , apparently, like me, so I can’t just go over there and ruin that. They need to set the pace, ya know?”

-

What was she waiting for?

Lavey glanced at Crystal.

They had both shown pretty clearly how they felt about Ilesha, so why was she still acting like they were friends?

Or, well, she wasn’t  _ exactly _ acting like they were friends, considering how excited she had gotten about Crystal calling her babe, but then the forehead kiss had just been…

Odd.

Ilesha had to make the next move, considering they had both shown what they wanted, but she hadn’t done anything, even though the ball was completely in her court.

What was going in on that girl’s head?!

-

Adolpha was sprawled out on the couch with a lazy smile on her face.

She let out a sigh and felt her muscles relax in a way they hadn’t for years, like there was some weight that she had been carrying that she had finally let go.

“What are you doing?” Romelle asked.

Adolpha considered for just a moment before she laughed.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? That doesn’t sound like you,” Romy said.

Adolpha’s smile widened.

“No, it doesn’t, does it?”

Romy frowned in confusion, but Romelle smiled.

“Good for you, Adolpha. Want me to get you a drink?” Romelle asked.

“That’d be great, Romelle.”

Romelle walked off, leaving Romy to stare at Adolpha with a small frown.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Adolpha said, shrugging. “I’m just… here.”

Romy looked like she was going to ask more, but Romelle reappeared, leaning in front of her and passing a drink to Adolpha.

Adolpha took it and gave her a grin.

Romy looked confused, and Romelle dragged her sister away, rolling her eyes.

-

“Why’s your brother look so upset?” Jin asked.

Saffron glanced over her shoulder, gaze landing on Colby, so was slumped over in his chair, arms crossed.

Saffron rolled her eyes.

“He’s being a little bitch.”

Jin smirked, raising an eyebrow.

“You can tell by the  _ everything _ ,” Saffron continued, waving her hand dismissively.

Jin snickered and rolled her eyes at her friend.

“You know, I can show you how to handle little gremlins like him,” Jin said.

Saffron’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“You can?!”

“Of course I can! Have you seen my team?!” Jin cried.

-

“Don’t laugh at my pain, I’m being serious here!” Akio cried.

Rosemary tried to stop her giggles, holding one hand up in front of her mouth to hide her smile.

“It can’t be  _ that _ bad after yesterday,” Rosemary replied, rolling her eyes and bumping his shoulder with her own.

“Just because she kissed them doesn’t mean she’s done being an idiot, Rose,” Akio replied, shaking his head.

“Just tell her to talk to them.”

Akio groaned.

“I don’t want to give my best friend advice on how to date my sisters.”

Akio made a face while Rosemary laughed again.

“Oh Dust, that’s really what’s happening, isn’t it?”

Rosemary nodded, clearly amused.

“Ugh, this is gross.”

“Come on, you  _ know _ you’re happy for them, stop pretending,” Rosemary said, leaning a bit closer to Akio. “You don’t have to pretend to be all tough with me, you know. I know that you’re nothing more than a soft little teddy bear-”

“Akio, we need to talk to you,” Lavey said.

Akio jumped, whipping his head around to look at Crystal and Lavey, who were both standing in front of them with their arms crossed, looking very serious.

“Uh, can it wait?” Akio asked, gesturing over at Rosemary, who looked  _ highly _ amused by the interruption.

“No,” Crystal said, her tail flicking in frustration.

“If this is about Ilesha, I swe-”

“It’s about Ilesha,” Lavey said, trying to look serious. She was blushing.

Akio growled and stood, glaring down at his sisters.

“That’s it!”

He reached down and grabbed both of his sisters by the backs of their coats, lifting them into the air.

“Hey!” Lavey cried, squirming.

Crystal let out a squawk of outrage.

Akio teleported across the room, reappearing in front of Ilesha, who had been talking with Cooper. Akio gave his partner a look that said “give us some room.”

Cooper nodded and took a few steps backward before he darted off silently.

“Ilesha,” he said.

Ilesha turned, giggling just a bit. She was clearly on her fourth or fifth case of energy drinks. She had said something about restoring her supplies of electricity after the tournament, but Akio hadn’t really been listening to her reasoning.

“Who is this?”

Akio lifted a slightly squirming Crystal higher into the air, pushing her toward Ilesha.

“Stally!” she cried in excitement, reaching out to grab Crystal.

Akio pulled her back.

“But who is she  _ to you _ , Ilesha?”

Ilesha didn’t miss a beat.

“My girlfriend!” Crystal immediately flushed a dark shade of red. “At least I think she-”

“And this is?” Akio asked, lifting Lavey higher.

For once, Lavey didn’t struggle in the slightest, instead looking up at Ilesha wonderingly.

“My other girlfriend!” Ilesha cried enthusiastically.

Lavey blushed.

“Then  _ take them _ and leave me alone,” Akio said, fighting a smile as he shoved both of his sisters toward Ilesha, who grabbed them both with a giggle.

“Okay!” Ilesha cried, pulling both of her new girlfriends closer to herself and setting her chin on top of their heads happily.

Crystal and Lavey glanced at each other for a moment before they both looked away with large smiles.

Ilesha plopped down onto the couch, holding both of them and laying down.

They didn’t protest… even when Ilesha fell asleep and held them both against her chest, not letting them go even as she snored gently.


	67. Packing Up

“Did you pack everything?” Jin called.

“Yes, for the fifth time, I packed everything!” Romy growled.

Romelle rolled her eyes.

“She didn’t. She paid me to do it.”

“Snitch!” Romy cried, shoving a smirking Romelle.

Jin groaned.

“As long as it’s packed, I really couldn’t care less.”

Aella snickered, grabbing her bags with a swift gust of wind and pulling them into her arms.

“Well, I’m ready! Let’s get this show on the road!”

Jin hesitated, glancing at her teammates as she stood in front of the door, stopping herself from opening it.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this to a bunch of gremlins, but… I’m going to miss you,” Jin said, shaking her head sufferingly. There was a small smile on her face as she said it, though.

“We live together,” Aella pointed out.

“No, I live in the house, you live in the vents.”

Aella snorted, grinning up at her sister.

“That’s… that’s fair, but still, you’re going to be seeing me around  _ all _ the time.”

Jin rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I should reconsider…”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Jin,” Aella said. “I  **am** going to miss the dorm, though.”

“Yeah, life might be a  _ little _ more fun with you two in it,” Romy said.

Romelle elbowed her sister with a small glare. Jin  _ did _ hope those two would work that out over the break.

“It’s been a fun semester, we’ll see you after the break,” Romelle said, giving them quick hugs.

When Romy grumbled and started to do so as well, Romelle tripped her.

Romelle snickered when her sister hit the ground, groaning, and Jin rolled her eyes.

She  _ still _ couldn’t believe that she was going to miss them.

-

Akio awkwardly patted Ilesha’s head with his hand.

“You do know that we’re going to see each other, like, all the time over the break, right?” Akio asked. “Crystal and Lavey aren’t going to let you get away with not seeing them for a whole break, so you’ll be around.”

“But I’m still going to miss you,” Ilesha said, pulling her friend closer. “And you.”

She pulled Cooper into her arms and held both of them close to her.

“I’m going to miss you too!” Cooper cried, wiping at tears as he put his head on Ilesha’s shoulder.

“We’re going to see each other at the Christmas party at least,” Akio continued, his voice sounding a little bit frustrated.

“But that’s so far away,” Cooper whined.

Akio sniffed and looked away from his teammates.

“Well, uh… yeah, I’m going to miss you guys too…”

Akio cleared his throat when they all pulled apart, and he turned to face the final member of his team.

Mavros gave Akio a pat on the arm and nodded.

Akio didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just said, “See you later, Bud,” and walked out of the room.

-

“Oh, I’m going to miss you guys!” Clover cried.

He reached forward and grabbed all three of his teammates.

“Yeah, I’m gonna miss our gangly giant,” Saffron said jokingly, giving him a pat on the back and subtly moving closer to Rosemary… and away from Colby.

Saffron heard Clover start to laugh quietly, but she could hear the sadness in his tone.

Rosemary gave him a small smile and leaned up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Clover made a small, quiet laugh and looked down at them all.

“Well, it’s going to be good to see you guys at the Christmas party, at the least, I guess… maybe I can come over if you have me.”

“Of course we’ll have you!” Colby said quickly.

Saffron rolled her eyes.

-

Lavey looked around the dorm room, which looked shockingly empty now without all of their stuff littered around the room.

“This semester was one heck of a ride, huh?” Lavey said, elbowing Adolpha playfully.

“Yeah!” Auburn cried.

Lavey snickered.

“I mean, Crystal and I got a girlfriend, the  _ same one _ apparently-”

“And being gay disasters,” Auburn added.

Lavey shoved him.

“Anyways, we both have a girlfriend now, so  _ that’s _ a big change. And don’t get me  _ started _ about Adolpha. She went from total control freak to a slightly less annoy-”

Lavey stopped when she heard a sniffle, and her eyes went wide as they shot to Adolpha, who was now quietly crying.

“Dolph?!” Lavey cried.

Sniffle.

“Yes?”

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” Lavey cried, walking forward and gently putting her hand on Adolpha’s arm.

“You’re… you’re right. I was a jerk, and a control freak, and I-”

“No, I shouldn’t have said anything, I didn’t know it would upset you,” Lavey jumped in quickly. “I was just messing around, I shouldn’t-”

Adolpha laughed, wiping at her eyes.

“It’s alright,” Adolpha said. “I’m clearly just… a little out of sorts right now.”

“Yeah, clearly… but that’s alright, you’ll be back to normal in no time!”

Adolpha’s eyes widened in horror.

“Not that normal! I-I mean, like… normal for you, not the old you.”

Adolpha started to laugh, shaking her head.

“I get it, I get it, calm down,” Adolpha said gently, putting her hand on Lavey’s shoulder.

Lavey sighed in relief.

She hoped she got better at this before the end of the break…

But it would be  **far** easier if Adolpha was a bit less sensitive by then… 


End file.
